


Dean Winchester and the Year of the Bludger

by thetreeswhisper



Series: Dean Winchester Goes to Hogwarts [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 10:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 28,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetreeswhisper/pseuds/thetreeswhisper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Dean and Cas' 4th year at Hogwarts, and amongst all the Quidditch games and Dean's bad decisions, their friendship is getting pummeled.  If only a bludger would come and knock some sense into him...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sam's heart was racing.  He was FINALLY here; he just barely made it, but this was  _Hogwarts,_  this was  _it_.  Okay, well, it was the train  _to_  Hogwarts.  And his heart was racing from running because Cas and Dean stayed up too late the night before and STILL weren't done packing, which meant they missed the portkey to Denver the next morning and had to notify Bobby's friend that they'd missed it then get another friend to come over and help them inconspicuously apparate with all of their belongings to the hidden alley, then drag it all into the actual station and through the barrier and across the platform, barely making it onto the train just after it started moving.d

But at any rate, he was red-faced and panting, hefting his trunk behind him having missed the opportunity to put it in the baggage car, following Dean and Cas to their compartment.

Along the way, the two older boys kept peeking through windows and making comments that Sam couldn't hear over the rumbling of the train, but eventually they pointed in one and opened up the door to a chorus of "Thought you'd never show!" and "Took you long enough!"  Cas lifted their trunks into the overhead rack and they sat down just as Sam came up and stood in the doorway.

Though there was one empty space, the cabin may as well have been full.

"Hey, everybody, meet my brother Sam!" Dean said cheerfully.  "Well, everyone's met him except Tessa... Tessa, meet Sam!"

"Hey, guys," Sam tried to sound confident while facing five fourth-year students, even ones he sort of knew.  It wasn't working out all that well.

"Hey, Sam," the girl with short, dark hair waved at him and smiled.  She seemed nice enough, but she was at the far end by the window.  The empty space was on the other side, next to the door... next to Jo.  Jo was scary.

He cleared his throat.  "I think," he squeaked, then cleared his throat again.  "I think I'm gonna find some other first years.  Uh... get to know some people."

"Hey, good idea, Sammy!" Dean encouraged, "Maybe you can meet some pretty new girls, huh?"

His big brother winked at him.  It made him uncomfortable.  "Uh, yeah.  Sure.  Okaybye," he finished and hurried off to find a compartment as empty as possible where he could curl into a ball and never speak to anyone again.

Why did Dean have to bring up girls?  Sam hadn't thought about girls yet.  He knew there was something important about them, certainly in Dean's opinion, but he'd met very few of them and would probably make a fool of himself in his current state.

He didn't know which was worse now: Dean and his intimidating friends (mostly Jo), or a compartment full of cute, giggling first-year girls.  Well, the latter just sounded annoying, actually.  He wanted someplace nice and quiet where he could re-read his textbooks undisturbed.

Finally, the  _last_  compartment, in the very back of the train, was empty except for one girl who he hoped to god was a first year.  She had curly blond hair that was falling in front of her face as she read from a book that Sam recognized was  _Hogwarts, A History_.  That, at least, was one hopeful sign.

He opened the door and her head snapped up in surprise.  "Hi," he ventured, after a wide-eyed pause.

"Hi," she replied.

He quirked up the corners of his mouth, hoping that maybe smiling would help a little.  "I'm Sam."

She smiled back and  _boy_  was that a relief.  She stuck out her hand and returned, "I'm Jessica."

Shaking hands stiffly, Sam cleared his throat and asked, "Is it okay if I sit with you?"

Jessica nodded, closed her book with a finger holding her place, and adjusted in her seat as though she needed to make room, even though there was plenty and she was in the corner by the window.  She seemed to realize this as she looked around the compartment as an afterthought.  Sam hauled his trunk up onto the overhead rack and plopped down in the middle of the bench opposite of her.

There was something he wanted to check, but he didn't want it to sound insulting or weird.  "You're a first year, too?" he tried.

She nodded again, pressing her lips together.

He gestured toward the hardcover in her hands.  "That's a pretty good book."

"Thanks," she mumbled, then blushed.  "I mean, yeah it is.  It wouldn't make sense to say 'thanks,' would it?  I mean, it  _didn't_  make sense... when I said..." her voice drifted off and she cleared her throat, looking back down and appearing to read the cover several times.

"Um..."

Sam very much wanted to say something.  Preferably something cool, but he would have settled for many lesser things right about now.   _Anything_  to start a nice conversation in which they talked about... whatever it was you were supposed to talk about with people you just met.

That was when he noticed the pendant around her neck, and he immediately blurted out, "Are you a hoopy frood?"

It was possibly the weirdest, most uncool thing he could have said.  He would have receded and tried to become one with the upholstery had she not then looked up and grinned and said, "I didn't think anyone here would know what that was!"

Her necklace was a small metal circle inscribed with the words "Don't Panic," hung on a silver chain.  Until anyone got up close, they wouldn't notice the jewelry as anything other than inconspicuous and simple, but for Sam it was a sign that destiny had led him to this particular compartment.

"Neither did I!  I mean, I  _love_  Douglas Adams, and it's a pity more wizards don't read books by muggles.  There's some  _amazing_  stuff!"

She was beaming now, an encouragement that was going straight to Sam's head and causing euphoria.  "My parents are English teachers," she explained, "so I may as well have grown up in a bookshop, which by the way have you read Tolkein?"

_Yes and I think we might be soulmates oh please let us end up in the same house have I mentioned how perfect you are?_  he thought.  What he said was, "Yes!"

Just then, as she was taking a deep breath and opening her mouth to say something interesting and exciting and perfect, the door slid open and a thin-faced, dark-haired girl peered in.

"You first years?" she asked.

"Yeah," Jessica answered, not nearly as shyly as she'd first seemed.

The other girl smirked back sarcastically and then spoke to Sam as though Jessica wasn't there, "My friends and I are trying to meet all the first years on the train, get a head start y'know?  I'm Ruby.  And you are...?"

"Sam."

"I'm Jessica," she added in determinedly.

Ruby continued to ignore her, so Sam made a point of silently communicating with her using various shrugs the whole time Ruby said, "Sam... I don't think there's any other Sams, so... are you Sam Winchester?"

"Huh?  Oh.  Uh... yeah.  How do you know that?"

"It's just I've heard so much about you, and your dad... and your poor mom.  That's just awful, Sam, I don't know how you managed."

Jessica was looking very concerned all of a sudden, and he wished this crap had never been brought up.  And he  _wasn't_  famous, there was no reason for Ruby to know that story, making it all the more worrying that she did.

"Yeah, it's one hell of a tragedy.  Can we talk about something else?"

"Oh yeah, fine, what about?"  Ruby invited herself in, shut the door, and sat down across from Sam, a seat apart from Jessica.

Sam turned back to Jessica and shrugged questioningly.  "I dunno.  We were just talking about some of our favorite authors like Douglas Adams and Tolkein, they're pretty hugely famous."

"Oh?  That's weird, I've never heard of them."

"That might be because they're muggles," Jessica pointed out.

Ruby looked taken aback.  "Oh.  So... you read books by muggles?  Aren't they... boring?"

"Not at all.  Just the culture difference would make them hard to understand for most witches and wizards."

"But then, how do  _you_  understand them?"

"I was raised by a squib priest," he stated bluntly.

She had clearly had some ideas about who Sam Winchester would be, and he was not it.  Dean might have been more the kind of guy she was looking for.

"I'm muggle-born," Jessica also answered the question.

This brought Ruby back out of her daze and she said, "I'm sorry, that sucks."

"Not really.  They're very artistic."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, then turned back to Sam and changed the subject completely, "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"Uh, my brother's in Gryffindor.  But I think I'd prefer Ravenclaw.  You, Jess?"

"Definitely Ravenclaw," she agreed.  "Rowena is my role model."

They both turned to Ruby expectantly.  She shrugged.  "Well, my whole family's in Slytherin, which I don't mean like  _that_.  I'm not like... well, they're always talking about how pure-blooded they are and I don't really care.  But I'm still gonna be in Slytherin."

Now they couldn't help but stare with sheer curiosity.

"Okay, so I think Slytherins get a bad rep for flaunting pure-bloodedness, and it's not like something to be super proud of.  It's just a fact of our existence that some of us are and some of us aren't, so if everyone stopped making such a big deal of it, right?  It'd work a whole lot better.  I self-identify as a Slytherin, but I don't want people to immediately think I'm cruel and nasty.  Ambition is what Slytherins are all about, right?  And I've always been the planning type.  I plan ahead, I follow through, I set high goals and I achieve them.  I just know that's exactly what I need to do to get to the top.  It's a dog's world out there, so I'll do what it takes to become the first female Head of the F.B.M., but that doesn't mean I have no moral standards, and by the way the British already had a Minister of Magic who was a woman.  Anyway, it all comes down to a long tradition of brainwashing pride into pureblood families, that is totally unnecessary and detrimental to society."

They really could have used some crickets, but the rumbling background noise of the train had to do.

After a while, Sam blinked.  "So you want to be the Bureau Director someday?"

~~~

Dean had always been able to see the Threstrals that pulled the school stagecoaches, but now they stuck him with a reminder of the events of this summer, and he had to stop, close his eyes, and take a few deep breaths while his friends had neither worry nor care.

Cas put a hand on his shoulder and didn't need to say a word, just providing silent comfort.  It occurred to Dean that Cas was the only one who knew about Jim, and he wasn't sure when he'd be ready to explain it to the others.  Cas was also his only friend who could see the black, skeletal horses along with him.  Dean rubbed his face and looked up to find the boy reaching out to pet one of them, and was a little taken aback.  They were so  _gruesome_ -looking.  Who would want to touch them?

"They may remind us of the horrors we've seen, but they are the gentlest creatures I know," Cas said solemnly, stroking its muzzle.  "They keep us from forgetting the pain that makes us human."

"You'll always be fourteen-going-on-forty, won't you, Cas?" Dean tried, but wasn't sounding his most jovial.

Cas gave him a reproachful look that turned into a warm smile halfway through.  "Yes, I think I will."

Rolling his eyes, Dean got in the carriage and Cas followed suit.

On the way up to the castle, Dean preoccupied himself with thoughts about the sorting ceremony about to happen and his brother's first Hogwarts Feast.  It was a miracle that the Winchesters had  _actually_  made it this far, and Sam was finally gonna see his dreams come true when he walked into that Great Hall.  Dean had tried to read Sam's state of mind when he saw him piling up behind Rufus with all the other first years fresh off the train, but only had a chance to shout and wave at him from further down the platform of the Hogsmeade station before being rushed off by the throng.  He pictured Sam going across the lake on a rowboat, leaning over the edge to see if he could spot the giant squid, talking excitedly about nerdy things to his newfound friends.  He wished he could be with the kid every second, see his every reaction, but he knew Sam had to experience these things on his own.  No matter how much Dean loathed that fact.

Tessa and Cas went off to join the Huffflepuffs when they exited the carriages and entered the castle, knowing that they'd probably have to sit with their own houses for the special occasion.  Students piled into the entrance hall and then veered to the right, going to their respective tables and waiting hungrily for the start-of-term feast to begin.  Everything was splendidly decorated with lights and golden banners, but the only thing Dean stared at were the doors, anticipating the arrival of the first years and for the sorting to begin.

"How long's it take for them to get across that stupid lake?" Dean grumbled when it was taking longer than he'd like.

Jo and Ron turned toward him from where they'd been chatting with the Woman in White, one of the castle ghosts.  "It hasn't been all that long, yet, Dean.  Maybe if you weren't so antisocial, time would go by faster," Jo teased.

He made a sour face and turned his gaze back to the doors, craning his neck over some seventh years' heads.  There was still no sign of Sam, so he looked up at the other end of the hall where all the professors were seated.  Nothing new there, besides maybe the intent conversation going between Bobby and the Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Mills.  On her other side, Professor Mosely was giving them a pretty ample sidelong glance.

_Finally_ , the doors swung open and in marched the first years, following Professor Gardner.  They came across the huge threshold and down the middle aisle, a mix of wonderous stares, excited glances, and nervous twitching coming from the gaggle of new students.  Dean spotted Sam right away, somewhere in the middle of the double-file line, and waved at him emphatically.  Sam did a double take before waving back, so Dean gave the kid a thumbs up, hoping it would help his nerves.  Sam rolled his eyes then went back to pointing around the hall and at the ceiling, muttering to the cute, baby-faced blonde next to him.   _Way to pick 'em, Sammy_ , Dean praised silently.  Then he felt someone's elbow dig into his side.

"You seem nervous," Cas chided.

"When did you get here?  Are you even allowed to sit here for the opening ceremony?" Dean hissed back, ignoring his ludicrous claims that Dean was  _nervous.  Pssh._

"It is unlikely that anyone will notice," he remarked, and Dean had to admit, at least to himself, that that was true.  The nervous thing still wasn't.

Dean shook his head and turned back toward Sam, who was almost to the front of the hall now.  Dean still spotted Cas giving him a funny look out of the corner of his eye, but ignored it in favor of watching the first years crowd at the bottom of the steps while Gardner placed a stool and the sorting hat in front of them.

Everyone in the hall waited in silence, though the first years had no clue what they were waiting for, until a split opened up at the seam of the brim and the hat sang:

  
_For thousands of years I have been_   
_The one to sort you, I look within._   
_For I have a thinker, like no other hat,_   
_I’ll put you in houses and that is that._   
_If you be chivalrous and daring,_   
_Soon Gryffindor’s red you will be wearing._   
_If knowledge your attention draws,_   
_Then blue it is for Ravenclaw._   
_If you be a hard-working fellow,_   
_Hufflepuff go don your yellow._   
_If ambitious dreams should bring you glee,_   
_Slytherin’s green your robes will be._   
_Since Hogwarts began, it’s been my role_   
_To say in which of these you’ll stroll._   
_But first put me upon your head._   
_I’ve never been wrong, so have no dread._   
_I shall divide each from the others._   
_And I shall tell you your true colors._

 

When the hat was finished, a round of applause rang through the room, then Gardner cleared his throat.  Opening up a scroll of parchment, he said, "When I call your name, come sit and put on the hat to be sorted."  Then he read off the first name, "Allen, Joe."  It looked like every first year was holding his or her breath, while the boy stepped forward hesitantly, not knowing quite what to expect.  Gardner gestured toward the stool as the student placed his foot on the first step and lifted up the raggedy hat for him.  The boy looked back at someone in the crowd of first years, then sat down, making one leg of the stool skid against the tile so it screeched for a split second.  Then the professor plopped the hat down on his head.

Everyone in the hall waited with bated breath until the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

The whole group of new students jumped when the hat spoke and Dean's table erupted into cheers, then Joe stood up with a big smile and walked over to his table, Gardner plucking the hat off his head as he went.  The first years' shoulders all relaxed now that they'd seen how it works, though their glances and whispers to each other still betrayed their remaining anticipation.

The stupid thing about alphabetized lists was that the Winchester boys were almost always at the end.  Dean waited and waited, noting which new students joined Gryffindor house, and that the girl who had been walking next to Sam, "Jessica Moore," was sorted into Ravenclaw after an anxious glance at Sam.

"Ansem Weems," Gardner called.   _Almost there,_  Dean thought and Cas nudged him again.

"Breathe, Dean," Cas muttered.

"I am!" he whispered back, insisting because it wasn't exactly true.

Cas lifted an eyebrow, as usual.  He knew perfectly well how stubborn Dean was.

The Slytherin table cheered as Ansem was sorted there, so Dean's head snapped back toward the front.

"Ava Wilson."

"Oh, come on!  How many 'w' names are there?" Dean hissed.

Cas rolled his eyes, she was sorted into Gryffindor as well, and then Sam was the very last student left standing.

"Sam Winchester," the professor pronounced.

Dean's little brother looked like he was trembling fiercely.  He sat down heavily and the hat, when Gardner placed it on his head, covered his eyes completely.  It sat there for what seemed like the longest moment of Dean's life, competing with the moment of his own sorting.

Sam wrung his hands in his lap, and the hat stayed quiet much longer than for any of the other students.  Even Gardner started shifting his feet, looking at the split in the brim where the mouth was, waiting.

Then, so loud that a ripple of shock went through the entire room, the hat roared, "RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw table stood up, clapped, and cheered, as did Dean, hollering his lungs out.  Cas joined in after a moment of laughing at Dean, too.  Gardner took the sorting hat off Sam's head and the boy's hair stood up; he had the silliest grin on his face as he hopped down and sat next to the Jessica girl.  He looked back at Dean and waved, and Dean gave him another thumbs up.

"Little braniac  _would_  end up in Ravenclaw."

"He has very good taste in reading," Cas added by way of agreeing.

They sat back down and the room started to quiet, but not before Dean replied, "Seriously, how did  _you_  not end up in smarty-pants land?"

Cas gave him a heart-felt death glare before turning back to front and watching Shurley stand up to speak.

"Hey, um... so... Welcome!  All you new people!  And welcome back, everybody else.  Yeah, it's good to see you here... at Hogwarts."  He coughed.  "What am I standing here for, let's eat!"

Just as he said it, the food appeared on the tables, stacks and stacks of everything anyone could want.  Dean dug in.

It wasn't until after everyone got their plates loaded and then moved some of that food to their stomachs that the conversation really started.  Unfortunately, everyone around Dean talked about their summer vacations, so any time a question was directed at him he deflected it with something about how hot and humid it had been. Which it had, and never failed to start a whole chorus of agreement on how humidity was the source of all evil.

Dessert came and went as well, and after Dean devoured his pie he looked over the next table to see Sam leaning back and patting his stomach, saying something to that girl Jessica.  He seemed to be making friends just fine with all his housemates, and Dean couldn't have been prouder.

The clacking of silverware and murmur of voices died down suddenly, and Dean looked up as the Headmaster got up once more to make announcements.

"Um, okay good, you're--you're all listening."  Shurley cleared his throat.  "So, to let all new students know, the Forbidden Forest is, um... forbidden.  That's why it's called... yeah. Just so you know.  Also the caretaker, Mr. Devereaux, wanted me to tell you all not to do magic between classes in the corridors.  It's always a helluva cleanup.  Which we don't want.  And... uh, lastly... oh yeah, Quidditch.  Try outs are in the second week of the term.  Talk to Mr. Panowski if you're interested.  So, that... that's pretty much it.  Stay safe, do your homework and all that.  Uh, sleep well."  He nodded and waved awkwardly, trying to make up for some of the finality that his speech lacked, and the student body rose from their seats.

House prefects all started gathering the first years to lead them to their common rooms, giving Dean his very last opportunity to wave goodnight to Sam, who was too sleepy from the full meal to notice him at all.  Dean shrugged, said goodnight to Cas, and plodded up to the seventh floor with all the other Gryffindors, throwing himself onto his welcoming, familiar bed without even changing out of his robes.

Though it had generally been a very good day, something felt a little off.  Dean couldn't put his finger on it.

Oh well, he'd have to think of it when he woke up.

~~~

At lunch the next day, Sam ate with him and Cas at the Gryffindor table, recounting all the exciting points of his first two classes and how he got lost on his way to both of them.

"The schedules only say what floor the class is on and what wing it is, but I couldn't tell if we were in the North or the East corridor, then of course it turned out we were actually on the wrong floor, so we doubled back and thank  _god_  we ran into a prefect who told us where to go after that.  So then we were barely even late but Professor Harvelle told us off, so then we were  _really_  good about taking notes, which were actually really fascinating especially when she..."

Dean was listening, really he was.  It was just, at some point his brain stopped registering everything Sam said.  He picked at his food absently, not noticing himself become more and more distant until a small hand waved vigorously right in front of his eyes and he looked back up to see five concerned faces looking back at him.

"What?" he blanched, caught off-guard.

Jo raised one eyebrow while everyone else furrowed two and said, "What's gotten into you?  You're never this quiet."

"I'm not being quiet!  What are you talking about, I'm fine--"

"Oh  _that's_  obvious."

They were all still staring at him like a mental patient or something and it made him too uncomfortable to think.  He frowned back at them and spluttered, "Oh great, yeah, let's all just--just GANG up on me and--"

"Dean," Cas interrupted and put his hand on Dean's arm as if that was supposed to soothe him.

Dean jerked his arm away violently and wrenched himself off the bench seat.  "Y'know Cas, I don't want your pity, or your comfort, or your help, or WHATEVER.  I don't need it!  Get outta my freakin' face!"

Then he snatched up his bookbag, fumed out of the Great Hall, and headed up to Defense Against the Dark Arts twenty minutes early while trying to forget the hurt look on Cas' face.

~~~

He sat on the far edge of the classroom and completely ignored, and was ignored by, his friends.  If they didn't want to be around him in this foul mood that was all the better, 'cause he didn't want to hang out with them either.  They were bound to ask what this was about, and he didn't want to talk about it.

Everyone always says you should talk about feelings and crap, but Dean really didn't see the point here.  He'd already cried his eyes out a month ago, what more did they want from him?

Between his last class and dinner, he decided to go to the one place no one would ever look for him: the library.  It was practically empty, since the first day of class had just ended and no one had enough homework yet to bother coming here.  He found a desk hidden behind some shelves and had every intention of taking a nap with his head on it.

"Lonely afternoon?" said a voice from behind, making him jump in his chair just as he was nearing that cusp of sleep.

_God, seriously, of all people to show up at a time like this..._   "Bela?!  What the hell are  _you_  doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same question," she circled him, coming to rest one hip on the side of his table so she could cross her arms and look down at him.

This was stupid.  He didn't want to talk to the people he  _liked_  right now, let alone the people he hated with a fiery passion.

"You want to be careful with all that jaw-grinding, Dean, you could damage your perfect teeth."

"Get the fuck out," he snapped back.

She did the exact opposite by uncrossing her arms and pulling up a chair, folding her hands on the table and acting like this was some kind of friendly meeting.  "Now look," she began, "I heard your little row with your friends at lunch, and I think--"

"Oh great, you're gonna give me relationship advice now?  What are you, my mom?"

She rolled her eyes and huffed, "Just  _listen_ , you stupid oaf, I think you ought to calm down and lie a little lower if you don't want people prying into your life and asking why you're so upset.  Explosions like that--"

"I  _was_  lying low," he hissed back.  "That's what made everyone worried in the first place!"

"You've got too many eyes on you, Dean Winchester.   _Curious_  eyes.  Of course they're going to want to know what happened to you, and if you tell them  _nothing_ , they won't be satisfied.  It's all in the art of acting like yourself.  Or, you know, how other people see you."

He glared at her skeptically.  None of this was making sense at all, and getting advice from Bela was practically tying up the wires in Dean's brain trying to work out so many confused signals.  "Is that seriously what this is about?  Just you telling me how to fool people?  What gives?"

"We all have our secrets, Dean," she said conspiratorially, standing up to leave.

Dean stared her down as she moved toward the exit and called back, "That's all you're gonna say?!  What, so you can just keep hiding your OBVIOUS ulterior motives?  I'm on to you, Bela!"

She disappeared without another word.

~~~

Her words haunted him now.

_How other people see me?  The art of acting like yourself?  What the HELL was that stupid bitch talking about?!_

Well, he knew what she meant about putting on a face, and so far it was working.  He pretended everything was back to normal, and then it was... pretty much.  He could tell everyone was still skirting him a little, tiptoeing around him like a patch of thin ice.  But the question still nagged at him:  _why_  did Bela, of all people, want to tell him that he was basically being watched, and then tell him how to stay cool about it?  And after that she left with "we all have our secrets," so how the fuck was Dean supposed to stem his curiosity now?  Bela did everything for a reason, random advice-giving no less.

He tried to keep an eye on her, watch for anything unusual, but it was almost like she was making a  _point_  of everything being as normal as could be.  Which was probably the case.  A whole week and a half passed and she'd done nothing else to suggest that she was either hiding something or spying on Dean, and he simply didn't have the time to worry about it: Quidditch tryouts were upon them.

Dean and Cas had practiced as much as they could as soon as they returned to school, barely letting the others use the Base at all.  But then the time came, and they now had to face the challenge they'd been anxiously awaiting since the beginning.

The day of Gryffindor's tryouts, he overheard some third years talking about it at the house table, occasionally glancing over at the captain while they mumbled about last year's team, how they'd lost to Slytherin  _again._ And in fact, four of the previous year's members had either quit or graduated.  That left Victor Henricksen, the seventh year captain and seeker, Gordon Walker, the fifth year beater, and Caleb Reed, seventh year chaser.  Unfortunately for Caleb, he got hit in the shoulder by a nasty hex over the summer and probably wouldn't be able to play at all this year.  There were a hell of a lot of open positions as a result, and it looked like the tryouts were gonna be pretty damn competitive.

Just the news Dean needed.

Cas could obviously hear them too, since he turned back toward Dean and gulped.  "Good luck."

"Jesus, it's not until this afternoon and my hands are already shaking," Dean whispered back.  "Do you know how hard it is to catch the quaffle when your hands are shaking?"

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Dean."  Cas tried to smile reassuringly, but Dean had gone back to staring at his plateful of food.  Cas rallied, "You've improved much in the last few months, and you seem much better than any of the players from last year's team--"

"Yeah, I  _seem_  much better, and only to you!  Henricksen's actually gonna  _notice_  when I fumble."

"I've hardly ever seen you fumble," Cas argued.

"Exactly."

The boy sighed exasperatedly and pointed at Dean's breakfast.  "You should eat.  And if it's any consolation, I'm already quite nervous as well, even though Hufflepuff's tryouts aren't until tomorrow."

"Gee, that makes me feel so much better," Dean said and jabbed his fork into a sausage.

~~~

Dean reminded himself to breathe.

He stood with the line of chasers, broom in hand, and concentrated as hard as he could on listening to the captain instead of the thousand thoughts running through his mind.  Henricksen was giving instructions for how they'd take turns, each chaser goes up and tries to get a goal past one of the keepers and they rotate...

_I didn't know Rick Stacey was trying out - we're in the same dormitory so you'd_  think  _he'd mention--Holy crap that seventh year dude is tall.  Well, thank god there's a bunch of second and third years here, or I'd never make it.  Oh dear god please let me make it._

"This end starts first.  You ready?"

_Did he just point at me?_ Dean snapped out of it just in time to catch the ball that Henricksen tossed him, nod that he was ready, and get in the air.  The first keeper rose up just after him and headed toward the fifty-foot goal posts, a broad-shouldered sixth year girl who looked tough enough to punch out all his teeth.  Turning to face her was no easy task, and he reminded himself to take a deep breath before speeding down toward her.

He could see she was nothing like Cas, and he'd have to use the best trick in his book or nothing.  Tightening his grip on the broom handle and leaning in closer, he prepared the quaffle to throw with his other hand and sped toward the right-hand post.  She kind of tilted herself in that direction, but looked prepared to switch at any moment, knowing he had  _something_  planned.  His guts tightened and he tried his best not to show it as he swung left on the approach and started to raise his throwing arm, watching her make the change with ease, then did a 180-degree flip-turn that took  _months_  to learn and sent the quaffle toward the right hoop again.

_Damn_  she was fast, as she barely knocked the ball away with her fingertips so it hit the rim and spun off to the side.  The people below practically screamed their cheers, suddenly reminding Dean that they were there.  Panting, he looked over at the keeper and she gave him an impressed nod.  He did likewise, seeing as she actually saved the goal.

When he touched ground again, his hands were shaking more fiercely than ever with the aftershock and he took another deep breath.  The next pair were already going up, but Rick leaned over and whispered, "You  _gotta_  teach me that move."

He grinned back.  He was pretty proud of himself, even if she did block it.  Cas  _never_  did.  You'd think since he was so fast and could follow the random movements of the snitch, he'd be better at being keeper, but some mysteries are never solved.

There were fewer keepers so they just kept rotating until all eight chasers had gone twice, which ended up meaning that the first girl, whose name he learned was Olivia Lowry, was the only one who got to go a fourth time.  She hardly needed it; she was clearly the best keeper of the lot.

Dean's second go was fine, since the third year he went up against seemed intimidated and let his shot sail right past his ear and through the middle post.  The rounds were quick and soon it was the beaters' turn while everyone else was released, so Dean put the broom away and dashed off the pitch back to the castle.

~~~

"I think that actually went okay," he breathed, taking a couch and sprawling on it.

"Did he tell you if you made it?" Tessa asked curiously.

Dean tossed his hands up.  "Nope.  Guess he's gonna notify us or something when he decides.  It can't be that hard a decision, I bet he just doesn't want to say 'no' to people's faces."

Dean ended up describing the whole trial, answering all his friends' questions as to who was there, how they did.  He noticed that Cas wasn't speaking up at all, and worried that telling this whole story probably wasn't helping him.  Right after concluding, he turned and said, "Hey, Cas."

"Hmm?"  The boy looked up from his Ancient Runes book, acting as though it had been distracting him this whole time.

"You're gonna do awesome tomorrow morning.  It felt like it was over with in a flash, plus it took less than an hour, and you get to do it on a Saturday so there's no classes to stress you out--"

"Dean."

"What?"

"Shut up and do your homework."

That made him grin.  If Cas wasn't too nervous to snap at Dean, he was gonna do great.

~~~

He came running into the Base an hour after breakfast, panting and beaming and still holding his broom.  Every head turned expectantly, then he shouted, "I got in!"

" _Hell_   _yeah_  you did!  Didn't I tell you you would?"  Dean turned to Ron, "I told him, didn't I?"

"Congrats!" Tessa cheered, earning a chorus of agreement.

"I  _knew_  you would," Dean finished, standing up to give Cas a pat on the back.  Cas misinterpreted him partway through, however, and Dean somehow ended up hugging him.

After letting go, the words started rushing out of Cas' mouth, "I am glad we had so much practice, and you greatly improved your snitch charm over these few months so catching the un-charmed ones was actually quite easy, and Rachel, the captain, said it was very lucky I came because they were in need of a seeker and no one else was trying out for the position--"

"See, Cas?" Dean interrupted.  "Easy peasy.  Besides, somebody'd have to be insane not to want you on their team."

"I believe the same is true for you," he complimented warmly.

Jo cut in, "So when's the wedding?"

"What?" they turned and asked in unison.

"Do I get to be your Best Man?  Tessa's the Maid of Honor, Ron's the ringbearer, bring Sam in as the flower girl, we've got everything we need.  When's it gonna happen?"

Dean and Cas looked at each other in horror, then back to Jo.

"Sorry, but I already promised Buckbeak he could be Best Man," Dean jibed.

Cas whipped his head toward Dean again, even more horrified.

"Oh, great, another friend chooses a Hippogriff over me," Jo sighed.  "Well, at least I don't have to sit through that awful wedding."

Starting to frown, Cas said, "You aren't... being...  _serious_ , correct?"

~~~

"Hey Sam, guess what?" Dean said excitedly, wedging himself between his little brother and his friend Jess.

"Yes, Dean?" the boy grumbled.

"You have to guess!"

"No, Dean, I don't."

"I'll give you a hint.  Who do you think is one of the new Gryffindor chasers?"

"Is it Cas?"

"Well,  _obviously_.  No, dude, it's me!  Cas is seeker for Hufflepuff, though.  But look, see, it's a note!  From Henricksen!  I'm in!"

"I've watched you show that to six different people on your way over here, Dean."

"Okay then, party pooper.  See you around.  Don't get into trouble today.  Tell Jess you think she's pretty."

"I can hear you, you know."

Dean turned and gave Jess a cheesy grin, then back to Sam.

"Be good!"

"That's what you tell me every morning, and I haven't gotten into trouble once.  You're the one who--"

"Aw, by the time I'd been at Hogwarts for two weeks, I'd already had three detentions!  What's wrong with you, Sammy?"

The kid gave up, rolling his eyes and shooing his brother away by smacking his arms which threatened to engulf Sam in a headlock.  Dean fell backwards off the bench then stood up quickly and grinned again, at which Jess snickered and Sam glared.  Then a Slytherin girl walked up and managed to look down her nose at him, despite being a foot shorter.

"Who're you?" she asked scathingly.

He was undeterred.  "I'm Dean, and you?"

"Ruby Masons.  This is your brother?" she directed at Sam.

He sighed heavily before replying, "Yep.  That's him."

"Aw, Sammy, it's almost like you wish you didn't know me."

"That about sums it up."

"Well, I'd like to talk to Sam, if you don't mind not falling down on the floor where people might trip on you."

"Alright, I'll just fall down over there, then?  Awesome.  See ya, Sammy!"

~~~

"So I hear you made the Quidditch team," came a voice from the wall.

Dean whipped around and searched the supposedly empty hallway, thoroughly creeped out that he was hearing Bela's voice when no one was around.  He wasn't sure whether or not he was relieved when she came out of an invisible niche to his right, grinning at her success in scaring the hell out of him.

" _Jesus_ , do you always sneak up on people like that?!"

"Hmm, not always.  Sometimes it's my job.  Have a moment?"

"No."

"That's a shame.  Well, congratulations on making the team.  Ciao!"

"Wait!"

She turned to look at him expectantly.

"Why'd you find me here?  What's this about?"

"Obviously I like making you shriek in fear.  I thought you didn't have time to chat, now you do?"

"Screw you.  I just wanna know why you're acting so... What's with you always finding me when I'm alone?  It's creepin' me out."

"I smuggle, of course I'm stealthy.  Anyway, just another friendly reminder to watch your back."  He scowled and she lowered her voice to explain, "I have it under good authority that the Demons are revving up for something.  I don't know anything else, but I know you've been mixed up in their plans before, and it could mean you're somehow important to them.  Don't ask me how.  By the way, you're doing a good job keeping that mask up, though I can still see the tragedy knotting you up.  It's got you worse than your brother, even though he shows it more, not that anyone suspects.  I guess it takes one to know one.  How do you think I'm holding up?"

"What?  How you're... what are you--??"

But she disappeared back into the wall where she came from, where there must've been a hidden passageway.  Dean didn't want to know how many more the castle had that he didn't know about, since it would probably scar him and make him paranoid.

It was bad enough being left more confused than ever as to what Bela did and didn't know.  Plus, it sounded like she was bringing up Jim's death, and what did she mean by "it's got you worse than your brother"?  Just when he was ready to forget about everything she said two weeks ago and pretend it never happened, she came back full-force.  Clearly, she  _wanted_  him to be curious.

Well, if that was the case, he wasn't gonna play her game.  He'd ignore her.  He'd act like he wasn't suspicious and no, he wasn't worried that she knew too much at all.


	2. Chapter 2

That plan sucked.  He was a nervous wreck every time he walked down a hallway alone, so he started going everywhere with a friend.  Last year, that wouldn't've changed a thing, but lately he'd gone on walks through the halls by himself to clear his head pretty often, and going back to being around people all the time was exhausting.  He wasn't sure if the others noticed his changes in habits since they didn't say anything, but not knowing only made him more afraid of what they might be thinking.

Thankfully, now he had Quidditch as a way to get away from it all.  Their first official practice had mostly just been talk about rules and structure and uniforms, but after that it was the perfect place to blow off steam.  A tiny part of him missed playing with Cas, but the rest of him knew that  _this_  was what Quidditch really was.  It helped that Henricksen made their practices fast-paced and efficient, never wasting a moment and  _always_  making them leave more exhausted than they thought was possible.

The other chasers were Rick Stacey and Dixon Reynolds, a fourth year and a sixth year respectively, while Olivia Lowry, also a sixth year, was obviously the new keeper.  The new beater was Shawna Greene, a seventh year - a fact that Henricksen frequently mourned.  Because there was no denying it, this year's team was  _good_.  There was an inherent smoothness to the unit that couldn't be explained.  It wasn't like anyone on the team was friends outside of it, they just happened to work extremely well together.  It made it much easier to focus on the game, and it was like nothing bothered him at all when he was at practice.

Which... only made all the other times worse just by comparison.

Jo kicked the leg of his desk from behind and he finally stopped tapping his fingers.  Dean couldn't help it when Crowley was lecturing them on boggarts and he couldn't stop trying to decide what his would most likely turn into.  Then something smacked him in the side of the head and bounced onto the floor, a crumpled note thrown from somewhere to his right.  He spun and glared in that direction to find the culprit and saw Bela two desks away, grinning slightly as she inked another note in her book.

Scowling, he picked the parchment off the ground and unfolded it too see her writing:

_Nervous, are we?  Stop showing it.  Act like you act at Quidditch practice, I've seen you focus there.  Also, fix your collar, it's sticking out of your robe on one side._

Dean looked back at her again and she finally looked up, wearing a smug expression.  She lifted her eyebrows and pointed discreetly at his shirt collar, miming that he should fix it.  "Screw you," he mouthed back.  She shrugged and looked back down at her notes.

That was when Dean saw Jo's face, flitting her eyes back and forth between Dean and Bela and looking simultaneously suspicious and disgusted.

"What?" he mouthed at her.  It wasn't like he and Bela were  _talking_.

Jo simply rolled her eyes and gave her attention back to the lecture.  Dean didn't know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but he and Bela were not a thing nor would they ever be a thing.  That would be gross.

Like... he knew she was pretty.  Everyone knew that.  Including her.  Dean just didn't care, she was a bitch either way.  Seriously, she and Jo got into a fight before they were even sorted into their houses first year, and Dean would've joined in if Mrs. Mosely hadn't interrupted it.

What was Bela getting at?  Why was she trying to get his attention?   _Did_  she want to date him for some god-awful reason?  He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

~~~

Whether or not he did, he found out soon enough.

It was after practice when he headed to the locker rooms so he could change back into school robes that she called him over before he could even get there.  Which just wasn't fair, he wasn't even alone.  In fact, half the team looked over and raised their eyebrows at this interaction happening before their eyes like they couldn't believe it.

Dean sighed and turned around, letting the rest of them keep walking away while the Slytherin girl strode up to him with a grin.  "Nice job out there, I like your form," she said when she reached him.

 _Why is she complimenting me?_ "Uh..."

"Though I'd still work on your English if I were you."

"Go screw yourself."

"Maybe later.  I just have one, simple, little question."

He huffed exasperatedly, looking back toward the wooden building by the field where his team had already disappeared.  "Fine.  Shoot."

"Can you meet me in the library at half past four this Thursday?"

Well, that was unexpected.  He was only taken aback for a second, though, before snapping back, "Why?"

"I just... have something I'd like to... discuss.  But you have to make me one promise."

"What?  No!"

"I'm not asking.  I'm simply curious and I know you are too, so I'll only tell  _you_  everything if you tell  _me_  everything.  Deal?"

"Don't think I'm curious enough.  I'll pass."  He started to walk away but she grabbed his arm and stopped him.  It might've been the first time she actually touched him.  It was weird.

"You honestly don't want to know what I know of what the Demons were up to this summer?  Last I checked you were curious enough for it to make you a ball of raw nerves whenever you weren't at practice, am I right?"

Dean's made a face at her and disputed, "I'm not a ball of--!  Okay, whatever.  I'm sick of all this... somethin', so fine.  Yes.  I'll agree to talk.  On  _one condition_."

"And what's that, your highness?"

"Don't patronize me!"

"That's your condition?"

"No!  Stop-- okay.  No more mystery, alright?  No more of this hinting crap and not giving the full story.  You're just gonna give it all up and have done with it, kay?"

"Agreed."

"Good."

"Well, then," she clapped her hands together, nodded, kissed him on the cheek, and started to move away, heading back toward the castle and calling out, "Thursday, half past four!"

He stood there stunned until she was out of the Quidditch pitch before he threw his hands up, waving his broom wildly and shrieking, "What was  _that?!_   She-- oh, nevermind."

He stormed into the now-empty locker room to change.

~~~

She hadn't said  _where_  in the library she wanted to meet, so he sat at a table in the corner and waited for her to sneak up on him again, which only took about five minutes.  Even when he was expecting her to show up, it still scared him.  In fact, the anxious waiting made it worse.

"Afternoon," she said, and he barely managed to hold in a squeak of terror.

He cleared his throat.  "Okay, you just say your bit and I'll say mine then we'll go our separate ways and never bother each other again.  Capiche?"

"I'll bet you ten galleons you can't keep that promise."

_"Capiche?"_

"Alright, but it's your honor not mine."

He gave her a death glare as she sat down across from him, then ordered, "You first."

"Okay, so... it's about my parents.  They're really... well, they're not the nicest people and I've had a feeling they were into a bit of dark magic, but then this summer, they--" she stopped there, taking a deep, shaky breath.

"Dark magic?"

She nodded.  "Not much, just... just enough that I think they were involved with the Demons somehow because this summer they... they got killed," she choked.

Dean frowned then, cause he knew about losing parents and parental figures.  It sucked.  It surprised him, but he was actually sympathizing with Bela.

"I--I'm sorry," she breathed, "I don't normally, um... I've never told anyone this.  Will you promise not to tell anyone else?"

He paused a moment to process the fact that they were actually in a position where she was even asking that question, then nodded.

She gulped, "My... it's my father.  He would beat my mother and... and me... and then my mother would b-beat me afterward since he made her s-so angry.  She blamed me for what he p-put us through.  S-sometimes I would pray that they'd both die h-horrible deaths so I would n-never have to go home to them again."

 _Jesus_ , he had no idea it was that bad.  It explained why she was such a bully; her parents gave her psychological issues.  He always thought she was just some bratty rich kid.

"S-so do you have any idea how I felt when they  _did_  die a-and I thought it was all my fault?!"

If Dean hadn't... then Jim wouldn't've... yeah, he knew how that felt.  But instead of saying he did, he shook his head, cause he knew from being in her position that hearing someone say they understand is the most frustrating thing in the world.

"And... and I don't even feel bad that they're gone!  I got what I always wanted!  B-but I know I  _should_  feel miserable, like my heart's been ripped out, but really it hasn't.  I... I feel  _triumphant_.  But all the teachers are babying me like a lost orphan, and I can't tell them the truth or they'd bother me about not speaking up sooner, I..."  She cleared her throat and wiped the small amount of water from her eyes.  "I'm sorry for acting so strange.  It's just... I needed to get that off my chest, and I could tell you needed to get something off your chest, so I thought it might be mutually beneficial..."

"I, uh... don't really know what to say.  That sucks?  I have no idea what that's like."

"Well, good.  Be glad you don't."

"Yeah, I... well, okay.  I'll go now, 'cause it's..."  He coughed and let his eyes wander the ceiling while he thought about what to say.  "Trust me, I suck at this talking thing even more than you."  She raised an eyebrow at him but he went on, "When my mom died, my dad... he basically went insane trying to hunt the guy that killed her.  At first, he dragged us with him.  I was only four, but I still remember him trying to figure out muggle money and how to pump gas into his car and stuff.  Anyway, that's not important, what I was gonna say was after a little while, he realized how unsafe it was, so he took us to his friend Pastor Jim and asked if he could be our guardian.  He's not the kinda guy who would ever say no, so we lived with him up until... up until last summer."

He had to stop for a deep breath, trying not to bring too much of the memory back while still telling it.  Bela looked concerned for the first time in her life, at least that Dean had ever seen, and that drove him to plow on, "Some Demons came looking for my dad, and one of 'em slit Jim's throat before my dad could show up and get us outta there, but... it was still the worst thing I've ever seen.  He... okay, this is the part I, uh, haven't told anyone either.  Jim was a way better dad than mine ever was, at least since my mom died.  Jim's the one who actually raised us, while my dad was barely there, off tracking Demons all the time tryin' to get to Yellow Eyes.  Seein' that kinda revenge... I don't ever wanna be like that.  I always thought I wanted to be cool and brave and strong like him, drive a cool car and listen to rock n' roll, but... he's not what I thought he was.  He's just angry and frustrated and confused and sad and scared like the rest of us."

"Scared?  What are you afraid of?"

He froze and stared at her.  That was the kind of deep question he wasn't sure he could get into right about now, but the answer came to him suddenly, now that he knew the question even existed.  "Losing people, I guess.  I'm afraid of losing people."

She nodded slowly, agreeing, "I noticed how protective you are.  Especially of your brother and Castiel.  Which I don't quite understand - didn't you only become friends last spring?"

"It was February, yeah, what's that got to do with it?"

"I dunno, nothing.  You two are very close."

"Yeah, well, after the fiasco this summer, Sam and I kinda moved in with him and Bobby, so you can back off--"

"Alright, don't get your panties all twisted up.  Wai--did you mean Professor Singer?  His name is 'Bobby'?"

"Yeah, like Robert, Bob, Bobby - what?  You're not gonna make fun of him, are you?"

"No, no, wouldn't dream of it.  I just wanted to see if you were protective of him already, too."

"So what?  He's already... It feels like he's done more for us already than my dad ever did.  I know that's not true, but... he's a pretty stable guy, no pun intended, and... that was what me and Sam really needed this summer.  We kinda got about as destabilized as you can get."

"That part I understand now, that's for sure.  I'm not going to live in England anymore, I'm moving in with some relatives who convinced my parents to send me to Hogwarts in the first place. Second cousins of mine in  _Nebraska_  of all places."

"Wow.  That's gotta be pretty different."

"About as different as you can get."

Silence settled for a moment, and Dean finally noticed the strangeness of this whole conversation.

"Okay, so I get you needing to cry on someone's shoulder, but why me?"

"Takes one to know one, I suppose.  I just had this sense that you had something to talk about as well, and perhaps you would agree if it benefited both of us--"

"That's not a good enough reason.  Were you trying to get information out of me, get something to use against me, why--"

"God, Dean, can't you trust me for one second that I don't use every person I come across like a candy wrapper?  They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer.  We  _were_  sort of enemies, and I think you knew me better than any of my supposed friends.  I've never trusted them with anything really important, and things have changed since this summer.  I don't want what I used to want, so there's not much reason for me to keep them as friends."

"What do you mean?  What  _do_  you want?"

The look she gave him made him almost immediately regret asking.   _Oh God, what have I gotten myself into_ , he thought as she bit her lip, glanced up it him through her eyelashes, then leaned forward across the table to smash her lips against his.  He walked  _right_  into that one.

What was he supposed to do?  A girl was kissing him, he should probably kiss back, even if it was Bela.  Anyway, she obviously trusted him now for some unknown reason, and she  _was_  kinda pretty.  So instead of pulling back immediately, he let her put her hands on his face and even pushed back a little.  The angle was awkward due to the table, and he wasn't really sure what kissing was  _supposed_  to be like, so he had no way to tell if this was going well or not at all.  But he kind of got a clue when she stood up, dragged him by his Gryffindor tie into an aisle and shoved him up against some shelves, turning friendly lip-smashing into rather unfriendly teeth-clashing.  Dean hoped to god he wasn't making a very bad mistake.

~~~

"Cas, I need your help, man, I don't even know what just happened."

The boy looked up from the owl he'd been petting as it rested on his arm and it flew up into the rafters as soon as Dean entered the owlery.  He knew Cas liked to come up here on clear days, so he'd been pretty confident of finding him now.  It was good because he wouldn't know who else to talk to.

"Dean?"

"Seriously, I don't know what any of it means, or what she wants, or why it's happening, or--"

"Slow down, Dean.  Who are you talking about?"

"Bela!"

A frown creased Cas' features and he questioned further, "What has she done?"

"Kissed me!"

Cas' face fell completely, not the reaction Dean had expected.  Honestly, he hadn't even guessed how Cas would react, he just knew he had to tell him.

"Is... that okay?  I mean, it happened so out of the blue, just suddenly she wanted to talk and before I knew it she was telling me her life's sob story and I actually felt sorry for her and then she friggin' made out with me so now I'm really confused and I just need your help, Cas, please."

The frown came back and settled itself even deeper now, and Dean really hated how unhappy it made him look.  "I have no personal experience of my own to share, Dean.  I am afraid my advice would be of little use.  I would suggest you ask Jo, who I believe has more insight on such matters."

"Oh yeah, she's a girl!  I bet it's a girl thing!"

"I did not say... simply because she is female does not mean--"

"Thanks, anyway!" Dean called as he ran back out to find her.

~~~

Cas was totally unhelpful, and apparently also really upset, but Dean had more important problems.  Namely, how one goes about dating girls without fucking everything up.

He ran to Base and found Jo, Ron, and Tessa all doing homework there, and didn't even pause for breath before diving in and asking, "What do you do if a girl makes out with you is it safe to say you're dating even if you haven't talked about it and you're not sure how much you like her or if you just feel sorry for her?"

All three snapped up in surprise and gave him blank stares.  "You'll have to talk slower, Dean, or wait 'til after you've burst in to say everything," Tessa suggested.

"What girl?" Jo asked.

He threw himself into a chair and hesitated before answering, "It's, ah... Bela."

Ron gasped loudly enough for all three of them, following it by whispering loudly,  _"You're fraternizing with the ENEMY!"_

"Yeah, I know, that's why I need help!" Dean cried, looking back and forth at each of them in desperation.  "She said something about that, how you should keep friends and enemies close, or... I don't know!  Guys?"

Jo took pity.  "It's 'keep your friends close, your enemies closer.'"  Jo huffed, "She must not have very close friends."

"She doesn't!  That was another thing.  She was like 'I've never told anyone this before, blah blah secrets' and dude, there was some serious shit she trusted me with, I have no idea why."

"How much did you guys talk?" Tessa asked disbelievingly.

"Uh... a lot, I guess.  I dunno.  Why?"

"Well, what did  _you_  tell  _her?"_

"Yeah, how do you know her trusting you was just a way to make you trust her back so you would tell her everything, huh?  How do you know you didn't put all of us in jeopardy?!"

 _"Ron."_  Jo gave him a stern look, and he snapped his mouth shut instantly.  "Dean wouldn't do that.  Right, Dean?"

"Right!  Trust me, I only talked about myself a... a little bit.  It was freakin' weird."

"Seriously?  How'd this even happen, anyway?"

He sighed, "We made a deal, okay?  She had to tell me why she was acting all weird and then I'd tell her was my problem was then we'd be on our merry way or whatever.  I didn't think she was gonna get all... touchy feely."

"What did you do?"

"I kissed her back, obviously!  What else was I supposed to do?  I'm not even sure if I was doing anything right, I just went with it--"

"What do you mean?  Didn't you kiss Andrea Barr in first year?"

"Yeah, like  _that_  counts.  We were eleven!"

"But what's the big deal?"

"It's Bela!  Not just some cute, simple girl, but like... a freakin' psychotic, evil, messed-up, power-hungry  _hurt kitten._   You have no idea."

"Okay, well... do you like her?"

"Wha--I don't know!  We  _apparently_  have shit it common, but it's not like I've figured it all out yet!"

"Easier question then.  Did you like kissing her?"

He stood up out of frustration and started pacing, voice cracking as he wailed, "I don't know!  I couldn't tell, I was too busy thinking about how insane it was that it was happening at all!"

Jo rolled her eyes then gave him the Harvelle glare, saying, "Get a grip, okay?  Go think about it, figure yourself out.  Then go talk to her again and make sure she's not just pulling another bitch move.  I can't believe I'm saying it, but if Bela actually likes you and you like her  _back_ , if she's really changed that much... you should go for it."

Tessa made a tiny sound and they all turned to look at her questioningly, but she shrank into her seat, shrugging and shaking her head.  "Nothing, never mind."

Jo accepted that answer and turned back to Dean with one eyebrow raised.  "Got it?"

He nodded sharply and backed out of the Base, taking a deep breath before running to his room to lie on his bed and not even pretend to do his homework.

 _Okay_ , he told himself,  _it's no big deal.  Pretend this was just any girl, you would totally date her, right?  Anyway, she made out with you, so..._   So what?  And no, he hadn't made out with anyone before - a peck on the lips in first year doesn't count at all - so he  _didn't_  know what he was doing.

 _But... I guess I liked it?_ He sighed and slammed his head on the pillows, trying to picture the short-term future if, say, he  _did_  date her.  It'd be interesting, that's for sure.  And... different.  Ugh, it was too much to think about.  He'd go talk to her and if they ended up making out again, so be it.

~~~

He couldn't do it.  She gave him this weird look every time she saw him that might have been flirting, but Dean couldn't tell.  And he was too utterly confused to go talk to her, so he simply avoided her for a week and a half and tried not to go insane.

Plus, it seemed like he hardly saw Cas at all that whole time, which sucked 'cause he could have really used some best friend support right then.  Both he and Tessa were hardly ever at the Base, and Dean was left either putting up with Jo's glares or risking finding Bela elsewhere.

Before he even realized, the first game of the year was coming up, and it was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.  Practices were more like boot camp, and Henricksen cut them no slack whatsoever, but it was worth it if they were gonna beat Slytherin.  His inner conflict about Bela in no way dimmed his desire to crush their house into the dust.

The Quidditch match was  _epic_.  It was closer than anything, the quaffle constantly going back and forth between teams, and the existing tension between the houses meant penalties were served left and right.  Slytherin had a first year on their team, a new beater named Jake Talley who must've had superpowers or something by the way he smacked that bludger. But Balthazar, their seeker, might've had a little too much to drink the night before, since he was squinting extra painfully in the bright sunlight to search for the snitch.

Dean saw two things happening at once: Henricksen diving after something, very likely the snitch, and the quaffle soaring through the air in front of him in the middle of a toss between two Slytherins.  He knew he was  _made_  to intercept that ball.  Grabbing it, he sailed off toward the enemy goal.

The Slytherins weren't too happy about that.  Anna Milton, that red-headed girl, came flying up beside him and tried to knock him off his broom.  Dean ducked down under her and passed the ball to Dixon to throw her off.  Dixon passed it to Rick who passed it back to Dean once he was clear again, and lined up perfectly for a shot as well.  He hurtled the quaffle toward the nearest post, heart beating frantically waiting to see if it made it through.

Raphael, the keeper, was busy watching Henricksen catch the snitch at that very moment, so Dean scored those ten points no more than a second before Gryffindor won the match, 230 to 90.

Sure, they would have won the game anyway, but it was nice to get as far ahead as they could as soon as they could.  That was how the Quidditch Cup got won.

Exhilarated, he and his teammates flew down to the ground surrounded by the cheers of almost all the school, and Dean got patted on the back left and right as the field flooded with people praising Gryffindor.  His teammates held him up on their shoulders and walked him a few feet before letting him down and picking up the next player and cheering for every single one in turn, hollering loudest and longest for Henricksen.  Everyone had way more energy than they should've after an exhausting game like that, but Dean didn't care how long the high lasted, they  _won_.  He was surrounded by a crowd of Gryffindors and even a clump of Ravenclaw first years led by Sam who Dean barely managed to spot between everyone's elbows.

"Dean!  Dean!" he was shouting.

He called Sam's name back and squeezed his way toward him.  "Sammy!  Hey, Sammy!  Did you SEE that?!"

"You were AMAZING!"

Dean ruffled Sam's hair then had an idea.  He turned his back and crouched down so Sam could jump on, Dean carrying him above the crowd, grinning and laughing.  Sam raised his arms and yelled, getting the whole surrounding group to cheer, and Dean could not think of a happier moment in his whole life.

He spotted Cas at the edge, standing beside Tessa and smiling at him.  Dean waved then Cas waved back and started to move toward him, but just as he did, Dean felt a tap on his shoulder and pivoted to see Bela smirking at him.  He still hadn't confronted her and had a sudden fear of what she might do.

Sam hopped back down quickly and disappeared, Dean had no clue where.  Bela got right up close and said, "That was quite a win, Dean.  And I couldn't help noticing you're  _actually_  not such a bad player."

"Uh, you... thanks?"

"I might not be able to forgive you, but I  _can_  congratulate you," she said right before she put her hands on the back of his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

He  _should_  have been expecting it, but he still froze for the first three seconds before remembering to stop sticking his arms out and flailing them.  She also took longer to let go than he'd anticipated, and he was kinda hoping she'd stop sooner since they were standing in the middle of a freakin' crowd.

"Now that you're not quite so busy with practice now that the game is over, would you like to do that more regularly?" she asked after finally breaking away.

"Uh... sure," he agreed, still in a bit of shock.  It probably wasn't fair to put him up to decision-making at this particular moment, but he didn't seem to have a choice.

He vaguely remembered seeing Cas a minute ago and looked for him in the surrounding cat-callers, but couldn't find him anywhere.  After that, Bela dragged him away behind the locker building to make out some more, which would've been fine if he weren't suddenly so worried about Cas.  Eventually he pulled back and muttered something about needing to change out of his sweaty Quidditch robes before running away to go find him.

He burst into the Entrance Hall and nonsensically shouted, "Cas!" as though he somehow thought Cas would just be there.

"Winchester!" came the returning shout, definitely not from Cas.

"Oh, uh, Professor Harvelle--"

"What're you doin' with that broom inside the castle?"

"Oh!"  He looked at it in surprise.  "I forgot I even had it!  I, uh, came straight from... I'll go put this back."

He dejectedly went back out to the pitch, mainly to escape Jo's mother, and returned the broom to the shed, finally changing out of his Quidditch robes as well and wondering if maybe Cas went to the Great Hall to get lunch with everyone else.  Just as he was getting over his worry, he stepped out and saw someone sitting in the stands, looking down at the empty field.  He'd know that figure anywhere, even from this far away, and ran up there without a second thought.

"Cas!" he said as soon as he got up the stairs and started jogging down the space between the benches.

The boy looked up with a start, so deep in thought that he didn't even hear Dean coming up the steps.  "Dean?"

"Cas, I've been lookin' for you!  Didn't get a chance to say hi on the field!"

"Oh, well... hi."

"Man, it feels like it's been ages since we talked," Dean remarked as he sat down, "We never get time to do that anymore, y'know, I miss it."

"Yes, it's been a very busy year."

"Crazy, I know!  Hey, what's up with you?  What've you been up to lately?"

Cas kept his eyes glued on the grass below.  "Not much, Dean.  Quidditch practice, as usual.  Schoolwork.   _You?"_

There was a nastiness to that last word that took Dean aback.  "Uh, same, really.  They're really piling it on this year.  You... wanna tell me what's bothering you, Cas?"

"Not particularly," he spat back.

Dean put his hands up, backing off a little.  "Okay, just askin'."  He wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Cas this grumpy, and still couldn't help but try consoling him, "Look, if you ever change your mind and wanna talk about anything, I'm here.  Just... talk to me, man.  I thought that was what we did, y'know?"

"I thought you and  _Bela_  talked now."

 _Woah, attitude._   "Cas, are you jealous?"

The boy gave him a scathing look that didn't actually deny the question.

"Dude, chicks don't replace best friends."

Cas looked away again and Dean didn't know which was worse: Cas looking at him like he wanted to kill him, or Cas not looking at him at all.  "I need you right now, Cas," he kept at it.  "I'm confused and I feel stupid and I don't know what to do.  I can't figure out what I want, let alone what  _she_  wants."  He ran his hands through his hair and leaned back, trying to read Cas, who was staring at his feet now.

"Dean, I don't see how I could help you."

"Just by bein' there!"  Dean put his arm over Cas' shoulder and explained, "Just by... us hangin' out like we used to so I don't go crazy.  Just by talkin' even when nobody's got, like, some deep wisdom to share.  Y'know, and I could help you the same way!  Doesn't matter if I won't understand or have any advice to give, just... Sorry, I'm not always... I don't want you to think I'm just this emotional wreck who needs a shoulder to cry on all the time or something.  Anyway," he laughed, "that already happened this summer.  But I... we are still friends, right?  You don't suddenly hate me for some reason?"

Cas sighed heavily and shook his head.  "No, I don't hate you, Dean."

"Whew, had me worried there for a sec.  C'mon, let's go grab lunch before my teammates eat everything."

Cas finally looked up and gave him a tiny smile, lifting all the weight off Dean's chest that he hadn't even known was there.

~~~

_I don't hate you, Dean.  In fact, it's quite the opposite._

Cas didn't know what to think.  He had known since summer that he wished he and Dean could be more than friends, and it made  _being_  just friends worse and worse every day.  And then when Dean had come running into the owlery to tell Cas that Bela just kissed him, it was like his world shattered.  Dean clearly didn't feel the same way, and Cas knew it would be easier to just stay away from him than feel an ache every time he saw his face.

It still wasn't easy in any way, shape, or form.  In fact, it hurt just as much to  _not_  be with him.  Every day when he went to the Hufflepuff common room instead, he was reminded of who we wasn't seeing, and there came the ache again.

That was why he agreed to go to lunch with him - with 'them' really, since it wasn't just Dean.  It was only a date in Cas' wildest dreams.

But maybe...

Dean had missed him, wanted them to talk more, in spite of everything.  He'd suggested that Cas talk about what was bothering him but didn't demand it.  He didn't question Cas' recent absence or make assumptions about it, just... wanted Cas to feel better.  That was the thing about Dean, he just wanted everybody to be happy.  He said and did stupid things sometimes, but he was always trying to make Cas smile.

Maybe that was how he managed to make Cas fall in love with him.


	3. Chapter 3

Snow started falling in mid-November, and everyone began to get impatient for Thanksgiving break.  They only got three school days off so only a handful of students went home, but it was the only time they had to relax before mid-year exams and the feast was always the best one of the whole year.  Plus, with the wintery weather, there'd be house-on-house snowball wars each day and common-room-fireplace s'mores each night.

And... there were some students who shut themselves in to catch up on homework as quickly as they could so as not to fail their midterms.  Not being used to balancing school and Quidditch and a sort of girlfriend, Dean had quite a lot of studying to do.  He doubted his ability to actually finish it with all the distractions there would be, but vowed to himself to spend at  _least_  two hours on it every day.  He could keep that promise... right?

Dean and Bela actually hung out fairly frequently now, which was weird to say the least.  Not to mention the fact that they normally met in the library, where it all started.  She seemed to really enjoy slamming him against bookshelves and he wasn't sure why he let her other than getting extra tongue.  In fact, he wasn't sure why he let her pull him away from time with his friends at all other than getting extra tongue, which at first didn't seem as stupid as it did now.  It was starting to get kind of boring.

Then she made an interesting offer.

"Why are you stopping?"

He had his hands on her shoulders and had to push her back to say, "I just remembered... I promised Cas I'd meet him soon.  Y'know, to do some actual studying."

"Why don't I come along?"

"What?"

She took his hands in hers and stepped back, looking thoughtful.  "You always have to choose  _either_  me or your friends, but... what if I... got them to like me?"

"Seriously?  Jo probably still wants to murder you."

"I do have a way of changing people's minds, as you well know..." she reminded, stepping closer again.

"Okay, okay, but let me talk to them first."

Dean started to squeeze himself out from between Bela and the shelves but she turned her body and blocked him to continue, "I had a thought that... perhaps the holidays would be a good time to get to know them.  Fun activities, lots of free time to just hang out--"

"Bela, I have shitloads of homework to catch up on, and if I gotta be a freakin' mediator the whole time--"

"I'll play nice!  I promise!  Believe it or not, I actually want them to like me."

This seemed strange, even for the new, better-understood Bela.  "You suddenly wanna be friends with my friends?"

"What, am I not allowed?"

"That depends on them," he answered, raising his eyebrows for emphasis.

She shrugged.  "I'd at least like to try."

"Okay," he nodded.  "If they agree, I'm not stoppin' you.  But y'know, I haven't told them any of the stuff about your parents, so they still don't get any of... this."  He gestured between them.

Giving a crooked smile and leaning in, she divulged, "All the more reason why I trust you."

Then she kissed him gently, which was something he was not used to at all.  His brow was furrowed when she pulled back and he was about to think up some comment on it, but he suddenly remembered, "Shit, I gotta go!  Cas is waiting for me!"

And he dashed away as quickly as possible.

~~~

Dean tried his best to explain, "She isn't really who we all thought she was, okay?  I can't  _tell_  you everything except she's been through a lot o' crap, just like the rest of us.  There's... alright, I'll tell you one thing that you have to promise not to mentionto  _anyone._ "

"Okay, shoot," Jo agreed with a shrug.  The rest of their faces were pretty much blank, so he took that as agreement as well.

"This last summer, her parents died.  That's all I can say, but it kinda makes a lot of things make sense."

Jo gave him an incredulous stare.  "Like what?"

"Like why she has issues!  Okay, so she's always had issues but there's other stuff to explain that too and you just gotta trust me on this."

This time Ron spoke up, "Why?  She's probably manipulated you, so we can't trust you, either."

"Perhaps," Cas cut in, "everything said is true.  Her personal issues are not the problem, it's that she has been a torment to so many of us.  She has never shown respect to us, so I'm not inclined to show any in return."

"That's just it, she said she wants you guys to like her.  She must realize you're pretty dang good friends and thinks you're cool and stuff."

"Or she wants love and adoration free-of-cost because of her  _issues,_ " Jo spat.

"Yeah, so she's figuring shit out like how to treat other people like human beings, but she's not socially awkward or anything.  Anyway, she's gonna act so nice you won't even recognize her, she promised."

"Oh, she  _promised_.  How fucking  _great_."

"What happened to us all agreeing we'd like to punch her?" Tessa wondered aloud.

Dean sighed, "Will you guys just... give her a chance?  I'm sick of not hanging out with you guys when I'm hanging out with her.  Would you do it for me?"

No one spoke for a moment, all staring at Dean's pleading look and weighing their options.

"She better be a damn angel or the deal's off."

Dean gave Jo a look of relief and opened his mouth to reply, but Tessa added, "And if she does anything to deserve a punch, I won't even hesitate."

"Nor will I," Cas agreed.

Dean turned to Ron, the only one who hadn't spoken.

"I will never trust her in a million years, and I still think she's manipulating the crap out of you, but fine.  Yeah, she can be a _temporary_  groupie.  No privileges, though.  And she doesn't get to know about our Base."

"That's fine with me, dude.  And hell, if she's rude to any one o' you, I'll punch her myself."

~~~

As soon as classes were over on Tuesday and break began, the students flooded the grounds and started running amok in the snow.  The five friends from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were no exceptions.  They built forts and took sides, Ron and Dean against Jo, Cas, and Tessa, and all were completely soaked long before the team of three smashed through the other team's wall and buried them.  Dean surfaced and spluttered then was immediately pelted with a snowball to the face, coming from Cas, as it turned out once Dean could see again.

"Oh man, you are SO DEAD!"  Dean chased after Cas and tackled him to the ground where they scuffled and kept splashing each other with more snow, stopping when Dean gave up because his gloveless hands were completely numb.

"You know it's nearly zero out here?"

Dean looked up from his place on the ground to see Bela looming over him, wand out.  He looked slightly to the right and saw why - six steaming mugs of butterbeer were hovering there.

"Sweet, butterbeer!" he exclaimed, standing up to grab one and warm his hands on it.

She rolled her eyes, then offered, "Anyone else?"

The four others were grouped together defensively, staring at her.

"I won't bite, and I brought all these extras for you--"

"They're poisoned!" Ron shouted, earning a look from Dean of ' _you're not helping, dude._ '

Bela answered coolly, "I assure you, they're not."

"Yeah, I'll take one," Jo accepted.

Wide eyes turned toward her from every direction, but no one was as surprised as Dean, who choked and sent a mouthful of butterbeer flying in the most epic spit take they'd ever seen.

"What?" she shrugged, looking disgusted at Dean while he spluttered and turned bright red.  "It's just butterbeer."  She stepped forward and snatched one from midair, taking a swig.

The others gaped, not quite knowing how to react because this was so contradictory to anything Jo would've normally done, at least when it came to Bela.  Dean was sure that something fishy was up.  Currently, the silent staring between everyone in the group - particularly the face-off between Jo and Bela - was creeping Dean out so he clapped his hands together and suggested, "Dinner?"

They headed to the Entrance Hall, their clothes dripping on the flagstone steps.  Dean thought, hey, maybe this whole situation could be saved yet.   _Maybe_.  He wasn't really confident that Jo's acceptance of the butterbeer offering meant she'd be benevolent, considering her and Bela's previous interactions.

Once inside, they dried off thanks to Professor Daniels standing by the door with her wand out, blowing warm, dry air that whisked the melted snow off of everyone who passed.  Cas' hair all stood straight out as a result and Dean held in a giggle, fearful that Jo might spontaneously dump her butterbeer on him - she was acting pretty unpredictable at the moment.  On they went into the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table... all six of them.  Three Gryffindors, two Hufflepuffs and an occasional Ravenclaw (Dean had to draw Sammy away from his friends at least once in a while) were a weird enough bunch, but add in a Slytherin and things just got trippy.  Bela and Jo started staring each other down like two aggressive pack-leaders circling one another, so Dean stuffed his face and tried to ignore how threatened he felt in their presence.  Each of them were scary enough on their own, and sitting between them was no fun at all.

The longer the silence stretched, the more Dean tried to get some conversation going, but he had no idea what would be suitable.  He opened his mouth to speak then gave up at least three times until finally Tessa raised an eyebrow and asked, "Something on your mind, Dean?  We'd love for you to share it."

"Why, yes, actually."  God, Cas was really rubbing off on him.  He was being sarcastic, but still, since when did he talk like that?  Anyway.  "I was, y'know, contemplating plans for this weekend and stuff.  Like what we should do on break.  Lots of free time and... stuff."

"You have homework to do, don't you?" Cas reminded him, like a snappy wife.  What was his problem lately?

Dean made a face back, with no suggestion that he intended to do homework.  Well, maybe he would do some of it.  He should at least  _try_  to catch up.

"You should at least  _try_  to catch up, Dean."

And now Cas could read his mind.  Okay.

His expression must've been really dumb because Cas looked concerned, a frown crossing his features before he went back to stabbing his noodles with his fork.

"It is nice to take a break, though," Bela argued.  "I would love to join all of you in... whatever it is you normally do."

She probably didn't intend for it to come out so condescending.  At least Dean hoped so.

"'Whatever it is we normally do'?   _Well_ , we normally sit around and do our homework and discuss the qualities of wizard rock from the 70's versus the 90's.  Bo-ring," Jo shot back.

"Oh, yes, well... homework is very important.  I was just curious."  Bela smiled, close-lipped.

"Mm-hmm.  I can tell you're a very curious type of person."

"When I take interest in something, very much so."

"What qualifies as 'interesting,' would you say?  Theft?"

"Ohhhh-kay," Dean cut in, slicing his hand through the air to try to break up the potential fight, "Let's just finish our food, and--"

" _That's_  what this is about?" Bela interrupted.  "Honestly, that was  _years_  ago."

" _That_  was the knife that belonged to my father, and I did not appreciate you stealing it."

"I gave it back!"

"But you still picked it out of my pocket in the first place!  What kind of person picks peoples' pockets?"

"Oh yeah?  What kind of person carries around a knife?"

"GUYS!" Dean bellowed, doing the very thing he'd feared.  "First year was what it was!  I'm not saying an apology wouldn't be nice, but it's probably time to let it go, kay?"

Bela nodded and said, "I agree whole-heartedly."

"Yeah, you would."

"Can we just put that crap aside for five seconds and try not to kill each other?"   _This is a waste of time, I knew it.  This is exactly what I expected._

"I'm sorry, Jo," Bela sighed.  "I really am.  You know I've never messed with you since then."

_Or... not what I expected._

Jo frowned and glared like this fight wasn't over, not looking like she'd believe Bela for a second, but then she blinked and drew her head back.  "Huh.  You're right, you haven't.  I... I'll consider your apology for future acceptance."

As surprised as they all were, no one had an expression quite like Bela's.  She might've been looking for Jo's forgiveness, but actually glimpsing it was terrifying.

Jo must've seen it, 'cause she narrowed her eyes, pointing and saying, "I'm still considering.  Don't fuck it up."

~~~

Bela did not cease to dote on them for the next two days, even right up to the feast on Thursday night.  Dean's friends seemed like they couldn't decide whether they were pissed off or confused about this, but at least the dilemma was keeping them from saying or doing anything to set things off.  And Bela really was trying, from the looks of it.  She nodded and listened more than half the time during any conversation, she brought butterbeer and chocolate everywhere they went, and would run to go get something the second anyone said they needed it.  To be honest, though, it wasn't nice.  It was just fucking weird.

Dean knew she couldn't keep it up for long.  Her smile never faltered, but it was so obviously fake it didn't need to.  Any second now, shit would blow up, and he'd be at the center of the blast.

 _As usual_ , he thought with a sigh.

The feast wasn't quite as big as the end-of-term always was, but it was close.  It had everything a good ol' American family could want on Thanksgiving, plus some.  Being the 14-year-old boy that he was, Dean couldn't stop thinking about the food all day, which helped distract him from this new Bela who was even scarier than the old one.  Then again, she caught him drooling and had to snap him out of it at least three times.

When the time finally came, no one ran to the Great Hall faster than Dean.  Soon, he'd be able to stuff his face with pumpkin pie and no one could blame him for avoiding conversation.  Because there was pie.

And not just pie, but platters of roast turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes and gravy and sweet potatoes and garlic-pepper green beans and cranberry sauce and corn on the cob and some leafy looking things that Dean didn't care all that much about and biscuits and butter and for some reason, a bowlful of turnips.  It was an annual dream come true, and he wasn't the only student giving the feast a good, long, loving stare.

He spotted Sam the next table over and grinned mischievously, then dashed over to sling his arm around Sam's shoulders and drag him to the cool kids' section.  "Ain't no way you're spending your first Hogwarts Thanksgiving way over there, Sammy boy," he answered Sam's struggles.

"C'mon, Dean, it's not like I haven't spent every Thanksgiving of my life watching you stuff your ugly face!  You know you're disgusting, right?"

"What can I say?  I love my food."  Then, quieter, he added, "Anyway, you can keep Cas distracted with your nerd-talk, can't you?  I might need your help if things get hairy."

Sam stopped walking, forcing Dean to stop, too.  "What, 'cause of Bela?" he asked.

"Shh!  Yes, 'cause of Bela!  She's been way too nice lately, and I have this feeling it's gonna blow up in her face!  In all our faces!"

"Dean, that's  _your_  problem.  Can't you handle her yourself?"

"I  _am_  handling her, that's the freakin' problem."

"Ew."

"What?!  Not like--trust me, we only... oh, shut up.  One day, you'll understand."

"I  _understand,_  Dean.  I just wanted to have my own Thanksgiving, okay?  With my friends.  You've had that chance, now it's my turn."

Dean blinked at Sam and tried for the first time to see past all the stuff he usually saw instead of Sam, like "baby brother," "puppy-dog eyes," and "Dean's."  It shouldn't've been hard to comprehend that Sammy had friends  _other_  than Dean, but it was.  Talk about a delayed revelation.

He sucked in a deep breath and patted Sam on the shoulder before letting go.  "Right.  Yeah, o' course.  I shoulda known.  I mean, Thanksgiving doesn't happen every day.  Your house is like your family, and Thanksgiving is kind of a family thing, and I'm sure there's important bonding stuff you nerds do, so... heh, why would you want your brother around?  Nah, it makes sense."  He gulped.  That was way more passive-aggressive than he'd intended.

" _Dean,_ " Sam griped.  "Are you seriously guilt-tripping me right now?"

"No!  No, not at all, sorry that came out all... no, you go sit with your girlfriends, I've got my stupid relationship problems covered."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

~~~

_Nope._

It all started when Ron started talking about his hobby back home: computer security systems.

Yeah, it was nerdy, and yeah, Dean made fun of him, but he didn't cross lines like  _that_.  One minute he was joking about how Ron could go to wizard school and muggle school at the same time, next Bela was saying, "Oh yeah, I almost forgot, you're a mudblood."

Thankfully no one else at the Gryffindor table heard it, or they'd be pouncing on her in a second.  Well, that might not be so bad, but they'd probably lose house points 'cause Crowley treated Bela like a  _pet_.  They might lose points anyway, 'cause as it was, Jo was standing up, leaning over the table and pulling Bela's face up to hers by her Slytherin tie, almost frothing at the mouth.

_"What did you just say?"_

"It... just... slipped out, sorry," she squeaked.

"Why, 'cause it's just  _habit_  to you?!"

"No!  Uh-other Slytherins say it, not me!"

 _"You just did,"_  Jo snarled.

Dean was suspended in panic mode, but finally had the sense to look up at the staff table and see that yes, Crowley was eyeing them with more than his usual amount of suspicion and disdain.  He turned back toward his friends to tell them this, and instead found Jo pulling her elbow back and tensing like she was gonna--

"Woah, wa--hold on!" he shouted, standing up as well and blocking the punch by grabbing Jo's arm.  There was a moment when they were all frozen in place, Jo staring at Dean with wide, frighteningly cold eyes, before he quickly explained, "You might wanna notice who's watching, here."

In fact, the entire room had gone silent, and every member of the school - student or staff - was staring at them.

"Well, this is a little dramatic," Crowley drawled.

Dean and his friends gulped in unison.

Jo slowly released Bela's tie and straightened her own before sitting back down, but still never stopped giving her the evil eye.  Dean brushed his hands off on his robes and sat back down as well, trying not to look over at Sam's raised eyebrow.

Dean was the first to pick his fork back up and try to hide in his second serving of mashed potatoes, and thank freakin' God, everyone else gradually did, too.  The din of voices picked back up as well, and Dean could finally swallow and say, "Bela, that was all kinds of fucked up."

"I'm  _so_  sorry," she whispered, and Dean didn't quite believe it.

He shook his head and glanced up at Jo, Ron, Cas, and Tessa, all sitting on the opposite bench, watching him from the other side of the table.  Their glares ripped his appetite right out of him, and to top it all off they exchanged a glance amongst themselves, and he couldn't tell what it meant from where he sat.  That was  _it._

Dean jumped out of his seat, almost knocking Bela off the bench and not really caring, then tried to think of something to say.  There was nothing.  There was no point.  Giving up, he ran away without a word.

He did look back once when he reached the Great Hall's doors, and saw Bela winding through the aisles to sit with the Slytherins.  The other four were still watching him like vultures and muttering to each other and it was fucking creepy.   _He_  was the one who banded them all together, and now it was like they were teaming up on him.

Cas' eyes were the worst, making Dean think back to last summer, when the whole world was nothing but Cas, Sam, and Bobby... before Dean fucked everything up.  His stomach felt like it might boil over, so he turned away and escaped before it did.

He realized halfway to Gryffindor tower, he hadn't even gotten to eat any pie.

~~~

Bela just  _wouldn't_  give up.  She cornered him in the clocktower, of all places - was there really  _nowhere_  for him to find some peace and quiet?

"I  _swear_  I didn't mean to say it, honestly, I never do.  I just... I'm constantly surrounded by people who talk a certain way and I would change their vocabulary if I could--"

"Just... shut up, Bela.  You said it, you can't take it back, and none of my friends will ever speak to you again."

"You're speaking to me, though."

"That's 'cause I'm an idiot who trusts you.  Maybe your parents called people mudbloods all the time, maybe your crap upbringing is an excuse for what you said.  I'm not even mad, I'm just  _embarrassed_  for you.  It must suck being hard-wired to judge people."

She was speechless after that.   _Good_ , he thought, and started to walk away.

Naturally, though, she grabbed his arm, stopped him in his tracks.  He rolled his eyes, turned around, and faced her again.

"Would you stay?" she asked.

"What, we're not done here?"

She bit her lip.  "I know they'll never forgive me, but I think you could.  You understand me, and... to be honest, no one else does."

"I still don't know if I understand you  _completely,_ " he scratched his head saying, "After all, you're a girl.  This might just be way too complicated for me."

"You have absolutely perfect lips, do you know that?"

His brain had to re-calibrate, set itself on a completely different set of tracks all of a sudden.   _What about my lips?_

 _Oh,_  that _about my lips_ , he realized when she pressed hers against them.  This was a rather confusing turn of events, he could have sworn they were breaking up.

They parted and she asked, "Was that so complicated?"

"Uh..." he stammered, "Puzzling.  More on the puzzling side."

"That's not so bad, is it?"

"I... well..."

Nonsensical muttering wasn't enough to prevent her from leaning in again, and before he knew it, they were making out and he was sixty percent of the way to second base.  It was not the end to this conversation that he'd expected.  Then, right when things got a little bit breathless, she pulled away with a grin and ran off like she'd just stolen everyone's Christmas presents.

Did he just agree to keep dating her?  Was that what just happened?  He hadn't planned to, really.  He was ready to go back to hanging out with his real friends all the time, thanks.

But... his brain was a little fuzzy from the physical contact.  Admittedly, that effect was kind of addicting, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad to divide up  _some_  of his time.  He didn't actually have to be  _friends_  with Bela to make out with her - Hell, she didn't even technically have to be his girlfriend.  That worked for him.

~~~

"Listen up you chums, time for me to make an announcement.   _Winchester."_

Dean stopped chucking candy wrappers into the hood of Ron's robes and looked up when his name was spoken.  Seeing Crowley's expression, he attempted to smile innocently, but it wasn't too convincing.

Crowley rolled his eyes and spat, "Class isn't over  _yet._ You've only gotta listen for two more minutes, as difficult as it is for you.  As I was saying, you lot are fourth years now, which means you're free to attend the dreaded annual Yule Ball.  Rules say you have to play nice now, look your best, act your best, all that rubb--"  He cut himself off, probably reminding himself not to sound too cynical.  He cleared his throat and went on as if nothing had happened, "If you've paid any attention your last three years here at Hogwarts, you probably already know that it takes place on the last day of the term, goes from eight to midnight, and is open to fourth years and up, unless of course you want to invite a younger student as your date you dirty bastards.  You don't have to go and I can't bloody well see why you'd want to, but apparently most everyone does.  So, if you so desire, go dance your arses off."

The bell rang and Dean didn't get up from his seat with everyone else.  He was utterly frightened by the prospect of dancing with a bunch of classmates, let alone in the dress robes he'd had to buy over the summer.

The day Sam had gotten a second Hogwarts letter, this time to keep, they traveled by floo powder to Vertik's Alley, the nearest wizarding supply alley out of the six spread out across America.  This one was in Chicago, hidden behind a bar called the Brandy Boggart.  Dean had heard many glamorous stories of the place in New York that was hidden under a large portion of the subway system and had more shops than he could imagine, but none of them made him feel particularly inclined to go.  The long and narrow row of alchemists, cauldron-makers, pet stores, and robe-fitters that was Vertik's Alley had everything he ever needed.

After getting Sam's wand, Bobby pointed toward Thrifty Threads, the secondhand wizard's outfitters.

"We  _have_  robes," Dean said, ready to be done shopping.  "And I thought Sam was taking my old ones."

"But you'll be needing dress robes, won't ya?"

Dean looked horrified at the combination of the words "dress" and "robes," and Cas simply looked blank.

"It's your fourth year, don'tcha wanna go to the Yule Ball?" Bobby asked, grinning widely.

Dean stuck his tongue out and pretended to gag.  Just  _thinking_  about all the fairy lights and frilly sleeves made him want to puke.  "What a stupid tradition.  I don't dance, and no  _way_  am I wearing anything called 'dress robes,' so count me out."

But Bobby got a little more serious and argued, "I wouldn't shoot it down so quick if I were you.  The time'll come and you'll wish you had 'em 'cause  _some_ one's gonna ask you.  Trust me."

"I could just say 'no,' couldn't I?"

The man gave him an unnerving look like someone who knew too much.

"Oh,  _fine_ ," he grumbled and let himself be led into the store.

He felt utterly ridiculous.  There weren't that many options, to be honest, plus he and Cas were the same size range which made things slightly more limited.  After looking through the whole lot, Dean pulled the only one with no lace off the rack to try it on.  The outer fabric was dark green velvet and was a little itchy, but it didn't look terrible, and most importantly didn't look like an actual dress.  Cas picked out something tan and navy that looked vaguely like an overcoat, and he came out of the dressing room looking rumpled and slightly linty, but otherwise okay.  They took one look at each other and burst out laughing.

Back in the present, Jo punched him in the shoulder on her way past him and muttered under her breath, "You're not planning to stick around with Crowley, are you?  C'mon, wake up!"

He shook himself out of his trance, got up, and slung his bag over his shoulder to go.

~~~

"So, are you going to the Yule Ball?" Bela asked, sitting down in the library chair next to his.  She'd actually been overly-friendly ever since Thanksgiving, which taught Dean not to make assumptions about anything ever again.

"Huh?  Uh... I wasn't planning to..."

"Oh, right, well if you have more important things to get on with..."

 _You dumbass_ , he mentally slapped himself and corrected, "No!  I totally forgot, I was  _obviously_  gonna ask you."  He tried an innocent grin and she shot a sort of sly smirk back.  "Yeah, so... you wanna go with me?"

She straightened out her face and pretended to check her nails.  "Hmm, I'll pencil it in, I suppose."

He rolled his eyes and went back to his Charms book, reading up on spells to control speed and acceleration.

"Is that your favorite subject, Charms?" she asked, attempting to be nonchalant.

"What?  Oh, yeah I guess.  It's okay."

"And the professor is hot, and you're two chapters ahead," she pointed out.

He pouted.  "So what?"

"Sooo, maybe you're not as dumb as you look."

Lifting an eyebrow, he threatened,  "Do I look dumb to you?"

"Well, you still managed to  _charm_  me," she grinned.

"You're terrible.  Do your homework."

~~~

The second Quidditch game of the year and the last one before Christmas break was also the weekend before the Yule Ball.  Even though Gryffindor wasn't playing in it, the focus in practice was bad enough that Henricksen blew up at the entire team.  Dean couldn't even imagine how bad it was for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff who  _were_  playing.

He was pretty worried about what he'd have to put up with at the Yule Ball with Bela, but the game actually was more important to him - it was Cas' first one.  He'd see Cas catch the real snitch for the first time!  Hell, he'd get to cheer for Cas from the stands, and he didn't even know why he was so excited about it.

The first Saturday in December arrived and he didn't see Cas all morning (he didn't quite notice that the rest of the Hufflepuff team was missing, too).  He was close to panicking, but Jo grudgingly made him stay for breakfast and walk down to the pitch with her and Ron, and he didn't stop constantly scanning every location he could see until he saw Cas walk out onto the field with his team.   _Thank god_ , he thought as he sighed with relief, then stood up and cheered as loudly as possible.

The players were up, the whistle blew, and off they went.  Cas used a common and generally fool-proof tactic for seekers by flying up above the rest of the action to search for the snitch, the second-year Ravenclaw seeker following suit.

Dean divided his attention between them and the chasers, who wasted no time at the start.  Ravenclaw  _already_  scored one.  It might've had something to do with the Campbell twins, Gwen and Christian, two chasers for Hufflepuff, starting to argue while Hester Mendel took the quaffle and sailed it right past Inias Mendel, the Hufflepuff keeper who was also her older brother.  The Ravenclaw chasers continued to plow right across the opposition, scoring goals every two minutes.  Dean knew Cas would need to catch the snitch sooner rather than later or else Ravenclaw might outscore Hufflepuff even when he did.

Just as Dean had that thought, he saw Cas speed off toward one side of the pitch, having spotted it.  The Ravenclaw seeker was pretty far behind, but he signaled to Uriel, a beater, to make a shot for Cas, at which Dean stood up and booed him, "You can't DO that, YOU LAZY-ASS SONNUVA--"

Jo grabbed his robes and almost choked him when she pulled him back down into his seat.  "Don't swear in front of teachers, you idiot."

He shrugged her off and looked back onto the pitch just in time to see Uriel swing his bat and send the bludger flying toward Cas, who was already reaching his arm out,  _this_  close to catching the snitch.

"ON YOUR LEFT!" Dean bellowed, and whether or not Cas could hear him,  _something_  made him turn his gaze just in time to dodge the bludger.  However, he lost that chance to catch the snitch and win the game in almost ten minutes, which would have been close to record-breaking.  From Cas' gesture of frustration, Dean could tell he'd just sworn loudly and profanely, which he didn't often do.

He went back up to look for the snitch again, the Ravenclaw team looking pretty smug.  They were eighty points up and fifteen minutes in when Dean decided it must be time to bring out the sign.

He'd made a five-foot banner that flashed yellow and black, saying, "CAS CAN CATCH IT."  As soon as he held it up, Cas looked over and grinned, rolled his eyes, and shook his head.  He went back to looking for the snitch, but occasionally glanced back at the sign and smirked a little.

Jo elbowed Dean and pointed out, "I think it might be distracting him."

"Nah, he's fine.  Look, he's enjoying it!  Anyway, it'll make the other kid upset that his friends aren't as cool as us.  WHOOOOOOOOOOO, CAS!  YOU GOT THIS!"

Jo flinched when he shouted, rubbing her ear, but kept holding up her side of the sign.

Still, Cas circled and scanned the pitch until Ravenclaw's score rose to a hundred and twenty points, and they were just twenty-two minutes in.  It wasn't looking good.  It didn't help that it was sunny with snow on the ground, so everything was bright and reflected like the snitch; the other seeker had gone for plenty of fake-outs.  Finally, Dean could tell it was the real deal 'cause every muscle in Cas' body went taught and he leaned flat across his broom into a dive like none other until it led him next to the stands and he had to dart around and between them after the tiny, fast, golden ball.  Ravenclaw had scored two more times and Dean was biting his lip as the commentator made excited remarks about how very close this game was going to be, and it was all up to Cas.  Now was his chance to show the school just how good a flier he was.

"C'mon Cas!" Dean cheered as Cas rounded a corner and whizzed toward the Gryffindor stands.

It was close enough that Dean could see the snitch approach, Cas right behind it.  Right before Dean's eyes, Cas reached his hand out and made a perfect catch  _directly_  in front of him.

Cas did a roll as his speed combined with the downward swipe of his hand almost threw him, but he quickly regained balance and looked almost shocked at the snitch in his hand.

Dean stood up on his bench and roared at the top of his lungs, "YEAAAAHHHHHH!!"

Cas whipped his head in his direction, almost falling off his broom at how close Dean was, but he recovered quickly, grinned back and held up the snitch proudly.

He turned and held it up to the rest of the crowd, but something was very wrong about the sound filling the air.  Suddenly, a bludger came flying straight toward Cas and hit him in the stomach, plowing him backwards and shoving him against the front wall of the stands, then letting him fall straight down toward the dirt.

To Dean, it felt like he was watching it in slow motion as he pushed through the one row in front of him to get to where he could maybe reach Cas if he--

He was already falling and there was only one thing Dean could do.  He pulled out his wand and without even pausing yelled,  _"Aresto momentum!"_

Cas floated the rest of the way down to the ground and Dean looked up to see who had shot the bludger and of  _course_  it was Uriel.  Ever since that guy became a prefect, he was a complete bastard.

To top it off, he was grinning and flexing his batting arm while the rest of the Ravenclaw team looked on with smug faces.  Cas caught the snitch in time, so Dean couldn't see why they'd--

Oh.  He saw the scoreboard, which displayed: Hufflepuff - 150, Ravenclaw - 160.  Somehow they managed to get in  _another_ two goals right before Cas made the catch.  Why they'd send that bludger over  _after_  the game was over was still a complete mystery.

Only taking a moment to glare at them, he raced down the steps to the base of the stands where Cas was lying on his side, the referee and the school nurse already there.

"Cas!  Cas, are you okay?!"

The boy was curled up, clutching his stomach, but he opened his eyes at Dean's voice.  He tried to speak as well, but the nurse put a hand on his shoulder to try to stop him from opening his mouth because instead of speaking, he coughed up blood.

"Oh my god, Cas... Cas!  Don-don't scare me like that, man!  You--"

"Please step back, I need to take him to the hospital wing where you can talk to him later," Nurse McClellan ordered kindly but sternly.

"Bu-but I..." he protested weakly.  It was no use.  She conjured up a stretcher and moved Cas onto it before hovering it a few feet off the ground and hustling off.  As the stretcher passed Dean, he felt Cas' fingers try to grab onto his robes, so he gently squeezed Cas' wrist until Cas was pulled away by the woman moving across the field toward the castle.

Dean almost started to follow her, but Mr. Panowski, the referee, stopped him.  "Dean Winchester, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you--"

But before finishing the question, the entire Ravenclaw team landed just a little ways away and the ref  _stormed_  toward them.  "HEY, which one of you KNUCKLEHEADS hit that bludger?"

They didn't stop chuckling amongst each other as they turned toward the relatively short man approaching them, nor were they impressed by Dean following close behind.

"It was him!" Dean pointed, not wasting any time.

"Ah, Uriel Esdras, how nice of you to deliberately injure that boy,  _after_  the finishing whistle no less!  Ravenclaw gets a penalty fo--"

"It wasn't after the game," Uriel stated calmly.

Mr. Panowski scoffed, "I don't think so!  It hit him  _long_  after he caught the snitch, didn't you see?"

Dean cut in, "I was  _right_  there, sir, there was no way--"

"Uriel hit the bludger before the kid caught the snitch, it shouldn't matter if the ball happens to hit him afterward," said Kali, the Ravenclaw captain.

Panowski turned to Dean.  "Is that true?  You said you were right there, did you see it?"

Dean thought about it, and it had seemed like the bludger came out of nowhere... so no, he hadn't really seen Uriel hit the thing, he was too busy watching Cas.

But at the speed those bludgers go, he would have had to hit it from all the way across the pitch for it to get there when...

"Well, I didn't see him actually hit--"

"See?  I  _was_  within the rules.   No penalty."

"Can you all confirm that?"

Dean rolled his eyes, thinking,  _Of COURSE they can!  They're all on the same team!_

They nodded in accord and Panowski agreed not to penalize them as long as they understood that such ruthless behavior was frowned upon. Dean threw his hands up in frustration and ran off to the hospital wing to make sure Cas was alright.

~~~

"Goddammit, Cas, you're killin' me."

"If I were, I believe you would be the one lying in this bed," he grumbled.

"Hey, at least you can talk now!  Nurse said she stopped the internal bleeding and mended the broken rib so now it's just a matter of waiting a couple days for the bruising to heal."

"I can hear as well, Dean."

"Right, yeah... I knew you knew that, I just, uh... So how do you feel?"

Cas' glare didn't lose any of its strength due to his condition.  "'As though I was hit by a bludger and then fell forty feet' would be the most accurate description."

"Heh.  Snarky Cas means you're feeling better, though, I can tell."

"Mostly, I am very, very tired.  And sore."

"Sounds like it sucks.  That's why I, um... I brought you something."

The boy's eyebrows went up in surprise, but he also showed a slight bit of trepidation as Dean grinned and reached into his bag, pulling out a box.  It was square, but only an inch or so deep and Cas still looked somewhat worried as to--

"It's pie!" Dean exclaimed, opening one edge and sliding out the tin.  "Cherry!  I thought we could share, y'know?  Oh yeah, I got forks too!"

He pulled two silver forks out of his robe pocket and had to pick a piece of lint off one of them.  Then Dean pulled the bed's food tray forward, placed the pie on it, and handed a utensil to Cas after he sat up a little straighter, wincing.  Dean sympathetically winced a little bit, too, but gave him a smirk when he took the fork and said, "Dig in."

In the end, Dean probably ate a lot more of the pie than Cas did, but it was the thought that counted.  And Cas still sighed with contentment when he ate the last bite and set down his silverware, leaning back into the pillows.

"That was very good."

"I swear, pie cures everything."

"Obviously not instantly, Dean.  My bruises are still quite painful."

"Pie cures your  _soul_.  Ain't no healing potion can do  _that_."

Cas hummed and closed his eyes, obviously overdue for a nap, so Dean pushed the food tray back and cleaned up, then tucked Cas in.  It wasn't long before he was gently snoring, but Dean still didn't want to leave him alone.  So, he pulled out a book and sat by the bedside until Nurse McClellan came in and said visiting hours were over, and he was forced to slump away, looking back toward the sleeping shape one more time before he was pushed through the doors.


	4. Chapter 4

Cas was back on his feet in no time, and Dean no longer had as much of an excuse to escape Bela for several hours each day.  Either she was suddenly taking up all his time, or Jo, Ron, Cas, and Tessa were actively avoiding him more and more.  He'd hoped that maybe being at Cas' bedside for a day and a half would make things better, but he only seemed sadder, and the others just seemed pissed.

Was it because they found out that Bela was his date to the Yule Ball?  The more he thought about that, the more sick he felt at the thought of spending the evening chained to  _her_  instead of hanging out by the wall with  _them_.

Plus, with the Yule Ball coming up in less than a week, it was all Bela could talk about.

There was so much more to it than Dean ever knew, like how important it was who was going with whom.  Bela apparently knew every bit of gossip that spread through the school, and boy, was there a lot of it.   _Especially_  about Dean and Bela themselves, after the legendary Thanksgiving fight.  The rumor was that Jo and Bela were fighting over Dean, which was stupid in Dean's opinion, and hilariously awesome in Bela's.

Dean just sat there and pretended he cared while instead he dreamed of being back at the Base; thank God Bela still didn't know about  _that_.  Though now it only meant that his friends could all escape there, while he was uninvited due to risk of unwanted tailgating party.  Served him right, really.  He should've ditched her ass while he could.

He kept trying, he really did.  But every single time, she somehow managed to either change the subject to the Yule Ball, or more often start making out, which was just unfair.  That kind of thing did stuff to his brain that he wasn't even sure he wanted, and it made it kind of hard to change the subject back to breaking up.

What made him really wonder when his life had taken such a turn for the worse happened two days before the ball.

"So I heard Jo is going with Rick," Bela announced casually.

"Wait, what?!  And she didn't tell me?"  Wow, he really  _was_  separated from them.  He wondered if they still even considered him a friend.

"Happened yesterday.  Apparently two first years found them making out in a broom closet."

"Jo and Rick Stacey?  Seriously?  We had practice yesterday, HE should've told me at least.  I didn't even know they liked each other!"

"Well, news is out now."

"Awesome.  That's just... awesome.  I've been abandoned, that's cool."

But that's only what he said aloud.  Truly, it was all his fault -  _he_  abandoned  _them_  first, when he sided with Bela, stopped Jo from punching the lights out of her.  The way she insulted Ron, she deserved it.  Instead, he was his own damn undertaker.

On the day of the event, he didn't see a single one of them.  Even Ron, who slept in the same room as him, managed to get up earlier and run off to do whatever he and the others did now.  Probably sat around in the Base talking about how Dean was such a traitor.  Dean decided that if he was this much of a loser already, he might as well do homework by himself until it was time to get ready.  It was the worst, not only 'cause he missed his freakin' friends, but because he could not tell for the life of him what his potions paper was supposed to be about.  He needed Cas' help.  Hell, he needed help in general.

At last, he did see Ron in the dormitory an hour before the ball, as everyone was getting ready.  He didn't say anything to Dean, who was determined to figure out what was going on, and he would figure it out  _tonight_.

He started out easier, nonchalantly asking Rick, who was also their dormmate, "So you're going with Jo?"

"Yeah, you heard?" Rick asked, smiling a little.

"Yep.  I'd say I'm happy for you, but Jo is the scariest girl you'll ever meet, so..."

Rick laughed nervously.  "I'll admit, I was afraid to ask her, but it was mostly 'cause of all that drama at Thanksgiving.  Oh... I... sorry for bringing that up.  Were you and Jo...?"

"What?  Oh, NO, no we weren't.  Jo was just defending--" Dean cut himself off, glancing over at Ron who was making himself look busy with his bow tie.  "Bela said something pretty stupid, and they've been enemies since forever, so it can get violent pretty easily.  That's all."

"What did Bela say?"

Dammit, he didn't want anyone to know that he was still dating someone who called someone else a mudblood.  Fuck, he  _was_  a traitor for that.  Plus, for all that Ron was paying them no attention at all, Dean knew he was listening in on every word.  So, he could either admit that he had every intention of breaking up with Bela which might put him back on Ron's good side but could also spread like wildfire heading straight to Bela's ears,  _or_  he could say the fight was nothing so Rick could go on his merry mindless way while Ron continued to hate his guts.

Last time he had to choose between Bela and his friends, he made the wrong choice.

Dean sighed.  "It was just the rudest thing I've ever heard.  Honestly, I would've punched her myself if there weren't teachers there."

"Woah, so... aren't you still dating her?"

"Uh," he scratched his head, "In a sense."

Rick frowned.  "How do you date someone 'in a sense'?"

 _One way is to let someone drag you along 'till you can't stand it anymore.  Yeah, that can be considered 'dating in a sense,'_  Dean thought, rolling his eyes to himself.  "I dunno, ask me after I've washed off all the crazy that is gonna be this night."

Rick just seemed confused, which was good 'cause it meant any rumors that got spread in the next hour wouldn't make any sense.  Ron still showed no sign of listening or wavering, but Dean was still crossing his fingers.

Before he knew it, it was time for him to go down to the Entrance Hall to meet Bela as she came up from the dungeons.  A chill went up his spine just thinking about it.

This time, he swore to himself, her weird, physical voodoo would not control him.  He'd take a stand for himself and tell her off for all the crap she'd ever said about his friends, and that would be that.

Granted, picturing himself saying all that in front of half the school was... But wait.  That actually made it so much better.  It would serve Bela right to be shamed in front of everyone.  That was probably her greatest fear, so it would put her in a state of panic and she wouldn't even be  _able_  to regain control of the situation and Dean.  Yes, this plan was perfect.

As soon as he hit the bottom of the grand staircase she came running up and kissed him on the cheek, as if she were ever that innocent.  She immediately started steering him around the room and introducing him to other Slytherins, who didn't seem to care, looking down their noses at both Dean and Bela.  Maybe she was considered a traitor, too, for dating a Gryffindor.  Then again, they weren't shunning her, and she toted Dean around like a prize or something.

 _Oh God, I hope that's not what I actually am.  A prize that Bela captured to prove her worth to the Demons._ He shook his head at his own ridiculous thoughts.

Soon, he saw the other Gryffindors and Ravenclaws coming down the stairs, the ones who weren't dating people from Slytherin or Hufflepuff.  Jo and Rick were walking arm-in-arm looking sickeningly cute, though more sickening and less cute were Rick's eyes glancing occasionally at the neckline of Jo's dress.  Ron was walking on her other side like a bodyguard, and Dean was suddenly a lot less worried about having to punch Rick's lights out himself.  More so because Ron would have the nerve to start the fight, and Jo would have the guts to finish it.

Ron and Jo suddenly raised their arms and waved toward the body of students now amassing in the Entrance Hall, and Dean waved back before realizing that they weren't looking at him.  Goddamnit, this sucked.  He turned to look for their other two members instead, finding Cas and Tessa coming from the other direction.  Cas' robes were now rumpled like everything else he owned, not like they were when he tried them on in the shop.  Having lived with him for half the summer, Dean  _knew_  what the bottom of Cas' school trunk looked like.  It made him laugh and cringe simultaneously.

"What are you laughing at?" Bela inquired, her thin-pressed lips the only sign of her wavering patience.

"Oh, uh... nothing.  Just... looking at everyone's dress robes."  He cleared his throat.  "The more ridiculous ones, y'know."

"And you didn't include me?" she grinned.  "God, some of the styles people are wearing are  _so_  old-fashioned.  I'd say the Hufflepuffs are the worst."

"Hey, don't be dissing the Hufflepuffs.  What they lack in style, they make up for in..."

"Ineptitude?"

"I was gonna say heart."

"Oh, well they certainly have  _that_."

"You say it like it's a bad thing," he snapped.  "But then again, you wouldn't know, would you?"

"I am just  _loving_  this conversation," she gritted through a toothy smile and took his arm, pulling him toward the doors that were beginning to open.  "How would you like to dance the first song?"

"Alright, fine," he agreed, but only in the hopes that he might step on her feet.

Dean had never gone to the Yule Ball before, so when he stepped inside the Great Hall, he mouthed, "Wow."

Hogwarts had a tendency to go all-out with decorations, this he knew.  But this was  _even crazier_  than Christmas.  The twelve trees had been put up and covered with ornaments as soon as Thanksgiving was over, but now they were lit with sparkling, colored lights that spun and danced - they might have even been real fairies for all Dean knew.  The long tables were pressed against the walls and laid out with hors d'oeuvres, and two corners of the room had small, round tables at which to sit.  Each of those had small but beautiful, intricate centerpieces and shimmering tablecloths.  The staff table was moved aside and that raised area was made into a stage, which was currently populated by a chamber orchestra, starting to tune.  Above them were glowing, hovering globes of warm light.  The walls were adorned with wreaths and garlands with gold and silver bells hanging from them, and at intervals there were banners depicting visual representations of various Christmas carols.  Literally everything seemed designed to permanently blind him, and above all was the night sky sprinkling down snow that fluttered down toward their heads but never landed.

"Isn't it romantic?" Bela whispered.

"Um..." was all he could think to say before the music started and she guided him to the dance floor.

Several other couples were dancing right from the beginning, too, and Dean focused on not crashing into them.  Admittedly, the rotary waltz was not his strong point, though that may have been because he spent most of the dance lesson with Bobby (of all the people to be thier dance instructor, it just _had_ to be their head of house) laughing his ass off.

Bela held on like a boa constrictor, which made fluid movement even more difficult.  As he predicted, he managed to step on her feet twice, making her hiss and jerk his arm, as though that would help him get back in step.  All in all, it was a successful start to the evening.

"Maybe we'll wait for the Whomping Willows to start playing before going back to the dance floor," she huffed when the piece was over.

"Probably best," Dean agreed.  "Want some punch?"

She shrugged.  "Alright."

He nodded and went as fast as he dared to one of the snack tables, staring wide-eyed at the variety before him.  Before anyone could say "hungry much?" he had a plateful of mini mincemeat pies and gingerbread cookies.

When he took his first bite was when he spotted his four former best friends leaning against a wall, looking fairly happy.  Rick came up, handed Jo a goblet of punch, and joined in the conversation, so Dean wondered if he could just--

Cas looked up and his eyes fell right on Dean, freezing him to the spot.  The boy frowned, pausing for a moment to stare, but then went back to picking at his croissant.  Dean wanted to throw himself into the lake.

"Sure is taking you a while," Bela snuck up from behind.

"Jesus!  Oh, Bela.  Sorry, forgot the punch, let me get that for you--"

"Don't bother," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Do you know when the Whomping Willows start playing?"

"No.  Maybe after an hour or so.  Why?"

"Oh good.  I mean, nothing.  Nevermind.  Man's gotta eat," he gestured to his plate then sat down at the nearest round table.

She scoffed and excused herself, "I'll go see if anyone knows the schedule."

Sometimes it was useful to have gross eating habits, Dean congratulated himself.  He looked back at the wall just in time to see Tessa offer Cas her arm and start to lead him to the dance floor for the beginning of the next song, and suddenly Dean's heart was pounding.  No one told him about  _this_  either!  When would he get to know  _anything?_

The best course of action at this point was clearly to mope and eat his pies, hoping that he'd get his chance to break up with Bela before the Wizard Rock band came on.

She came back a little while later and confirmed that the orchestra was scheduled for the first hour of the event.  That probably left him with thirty-five or forty minutes to do... something.  Suddenly not enough ideas would pop into his head.

"Do you wanna dance with anybody else?" he asked.

She laughed nervously.  "Why would I do that?"

"'Cause I suck," he offered.  "I'm just sayin', you have my permission to dance with anybody if you get bored or somethin'."

"I have your  _permission?"_

_Yes, this is good.  I said something stupid, go me!  I knew this was foolproof.  All I have to do is be a fool for this to work!_

"Yeah!  I mean... not that you  _need_  it, I'm just saying it's okay with me if you... yeah."

"With tact like that, how have you ever survived?"

"Exactly!  It's such a problem.  God, I have a lot of problems.  You don't even know the  _half_  of them."

That line didn't work quite as intended.  She suddenly had on a curious, concerned face, and she brushed her hand against his arm, saying, "You can tell me.  Remember how it all started, how we shared our problems?  I think we have a lot in common, really."

He stared at her hand for a second, and pulled himself back a little.  "Uh... I was talking about all my bad habits, not my life problems, but if you want me to list off  _everything_..."

There, her slight panic was back.  She smiled, close-lipped, and finally took her hand away.  "You seem a bit stressed lately, do you want to talk about it?"

"Okay, sure.  I guess I could start with how I really miss my friends and I'm not too happy about how you've treated them," he dove straight into the subject, letting his voice carry a little bit more.  Hopefully this would start a scene, that would really be the best way to end it.

Her jaw dropped momentarily before she picked it back up and stammered, "But... I was nice to them!  Didn't you see how hard I tried to--"

"That's just it, it shouldn't be THAT hard to treat people with respect.  Y'know, respect, that thing that makes people act decent to each other?"

"I--"  She stopped herself, lowered her voice back down while her eyes shifted side to side.  "I know what respect is, Dean.  But, honestly, what makes  _them_  so deserving?"

It was Dean's turn to drop his jaw, and he didn't bother lowering his voice at all.  "Man, you just don't get it, do you?  Oh yeah, I forgot you didn't know what it's like to have friends."

"What's wrong with you?" she hissed,  _really_  starting to freak out now.

"What's wrong with  _me?_   You're the one with issues a mile high!  You're freakin'  _psycho_ , okay?  Yeah, I said it.  I don't care about your stupid sob story anymore, I'm done feeling sorry for you and your pathetic, friendless life.  Maybe if you weren't a bully, people might actually start liking you, 'stead of being afraid of you."

People all around them were watching, and Dean got out of his chair to finish his speech.

"You can read the definition of 'respect' all you like, but you'll never understand what it actually is until you stop calling people 'mudbloods.'  In fact, that was the very moment I lost whatever tiny amount of respect _I_ had for  _you_.  That's all gone now, and your sad, sad life doesn't change a thing.  Also, I'm sick of you.  How's that for an explanation?"

For a second, it looked like she was going to try to start crying, but she gave up quickly.  With a huff of frustration she stood up and got in Dean's face, snapping, "Well, I'm sick of you, too.  You're dull and thick, and frankly, tasteless.  Not to mention, probably gay."  She gave a meaningful glance toward Castiel.

"Better off gay than stuck with you!" he shouted back.  "Run back to your creepy dungeons and worship Crowley or whatever it is you do with your free time."

Rage flared in her eyes, plus a hint of fear that Dean was pretty sure only he could see, then she turned on her heel and walked out.

Now it wasn't just the people nearby, the whole entire room had watched the end of that scene and was now standing around quietly, staring.  Even the musicians had stopped.  Dean was rooted to the spot, quickly turning radish-colored under the eyes of half the school.

"Heh," he squeaked, then cleared his throat.  "Nothing to see here."

The embarrassment was so much worse than the display at Thanksgiving, but this time was so much more worth it.

Everyone went back to their conversations, eyebrows a little higher and voices a little louder than before, and the orchestra picked up where they left off.  Dean was kinda proud of himself that they'd stopped playing in the first place - not many fiascos can cause that.

He turned to sit back down and finish his food but was accosted by Ron running up and squeezing him around the middle, picking him up off the ground.  "I always knew you were never on her side!" he cried.

Dean wheezed a bit when he tried to reply, so Ron set him down, grinning up at him.  Dean grinned back.  "All I needed was a bit of help to shake her off.  I thought you guys abandoned me!"

"Well, you should've asked!" Jo derided, punching him in the arm.

"For all we knew, she'd done something to your brain," Tessa added, making spooky gestures.

Dean nodded seriously and admitted, "I'm pretty sure she did.  Some things are actually a little fuzzy, not gonna lie."

"Wait, seriously?" Tessa asked.  Everyone else suddenly looked a bit incredulous, too.

"Yeah.  Next time someone tries to make me feel sorry for them, could you hit me really hard in the head?"

"Certainly," Cas finally spoke.  Dean had a hard time reading his expression, and there was something wrong about that.

At the very least, he could see a hint of mischievousness so he laughed and replied, "I can always count on you to want to hit me with a broomstick, eh, Cas?"

"Perhaps even a bludger," he suggested, keeping a straight face.

"Yeah, I probably deserve that."

At that, Cas' face softened ever so slightly.

Dean's attention was drawn back to Jo, who punched him again, saying, "You definitely deserve  _this_.  And maybe  _this,_  too."

He gripped his tender shoulder and pulled it away from her with a pathetic, "Ow."

"Serves you right, making us hang out with her that much."

"Yeah, I was pretty sure you'd all hate me forever.  So, this is a way better punishment."

"You can't get rid of us  _that_  easily," Ron teased.

Rick had been politely standing next to Jo this whole time, but now he took this opening to whisper something in Jo's ear.  She smiled, looked up at him, and nodded, then turned back to everyone else to announce, "Gonna go dance, see you in a bit."  She waved and parted with Rick.

Dean sighed dramatically, "I guess it's Jo's turn to abandon us."

"Test him first!" Tessa called out after her, which made Ron go wide-eyed.  Tessa shrugged and laughed.

"Oh man, I missed you guys," Dean said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Of course you did," she concurred.

Dean remembered something and glanced back and forth between her and Cas.  "Did I see you guys dancing earlier?  Are you--"

"No, not at all," Cas cut in.  "We're... what was the term you used?  'Friend-dates'?"

Tessa nodded.  "So us single people can still have a dance partner if we want."

Dean was still confused.  "Well, Ron's going stag.  He seems cool with it."

"I'm cool with it."

"Yeah, see?"

"Yes, that was an option," Cas sighed.  "I just felt it easier to not appear as though I'm... 'on the lookout.'"

"You're not?"

Cas rolled his eyes.  "I don't seek attention like you do, Dean."

"Well, I know that, but--"

"And I'm not interested in having a girlfriend."

Dean paused.  "Like, at this time, or... ever?"

"Ever."

Oh.  Dean finally got it.

"I had hoped I wouldn't have to explain myself."

Dean suddenly remembered Bela's last accusation.  And how she'd looked at Cas, too.   _Oh._

"God, I hope what Bela said didn't offend you, or--"

Cas put his hands up and reassured, "She can say whatever she wants, and it will never truly affect me, I promise."

"Okay, good.  I mean, it really just makes her even more of a bitch to say--'cause I mean, there's nothing wrong with... I know a lot of people have a problem with it, but I've never seen the point, so... Plus, you're still you and everything..."

Cas smiled at Dean's faltering response.  "Yes, Dean.  I am still me."

"Yeah, exactly.  So I just... one honest question.  Do I have perfect lips?"

Ron almost spat out his punch that he'd just gotten during the conversation that apparently didn't contain any news to him - why did everything important happen when Dean was gone? - and Tessa bit her lip to refrain from laughing.  Cas simply looked like a deer in headlights.

"Uh..."

"Like, objectively.  Need to know if it's a matter of opinion, or what."

"Beauty  _is_  subjective, Dean.  I don't... I suppose they're... nice?"

"Nice, but not perfect, then?  I mean, I just need to know--"

"How is my opinion any more objective than someone else's, Dean?  I don't see how this is supposed to help you."

"Just so I can hear it from someone else, is all."

"Did Bela tell you that you have perfect lips?"

"No!  I mean... yeah, I guess.  But I don't believe anything she says!"

"Well, some say that there is no such thing as perfection, because everything is just in the eye of the beholder."

"Then what does the eye of this beholder say?"

"Couldn't you ask  _anyone_ , Dean?  Why... why me, why now?"

Ron and Tessa were cracking up in their own little corner while Cas floundered and Dean kept trying to draw an answer out of him.  Dean could tell he was being ridiculous, but he didn't feel like giving up.  "I dunno... I mean, any girl could've told me up to this point, but you're the first guy to have a chance--"

"Just because I'm gay does not mean I have to find you attractive," Cas huffed.

"Oh.  I mean, I knew that, but... that's okay.  Plenty other people wanna piece o' this, so... that was your chance.  There you go."

Cas rolled his eyes and walked off to get himself a snack.

When the Whomping Willows started playing soon after that, Dean stayed with Cas, Tessa, and Ron at the table, though eventually they all got up and danced like idiots on the outskirts of the crowded floor.  This was how it was supposed to be, no Bela anywhere to be seen.  However, he would like to find out what her play was all that time, why she even bothered in the first place.  It did spook him a little that she could've gotten all kinds of information from him in all that time.

But he'd worry about it later.  Right now he was just enjoying the fact that everything was back to normal, and everyone was happy.  Especially Cas, 'cause he was gay.


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas break was the biggest relief Dean could possibly imagine.  Ending that last day of fall term with him and Bela breaking up, he felt weightless.  He couldn't believe all the shit that she did that he ignored just 'cause he thought she needed some comfort and understanding, while all the time she was just making him feel sorry for her.  Knowing Bela, it was probably something really sketchy that Dean would regret later - Hell, he regretted it now.  But he decided to ignore it even by the time he, Cas, and Sam were on the train home for the holidays.

Jo was staying at school, partly because her mom needed to and partly because it allowed her and Rick to go on long, romantic walks and whatever other crap they did together.  Dean was far too excited to spend Christmas with his best friend and his brother at Bobby's house to even think of staying at school, as cool as the castle was at Christmas-time.  Plus, he'd heard from Cas that Bobby cooked a  _mean_  Christmas dinner.

When they arrived in Sioux Falls, everything was covered in snow that hadn't already been touched by every Hogwarts student, and the three boys went jumping into it as fast as they could.

Cas dashed off to the stables and let out Buckbeak, who ran right up to Dean and nipped at him playfully.  Playing tackle in the snow with an adolescent Hippogriff was never on Dean's to-do list, but there's a first time for everything, right?

Once suitably cold and wet, they came inside and changed clothes, huddling around the fire.  Sam went straight for Bobby's books, some of which were probably in the restricted section at Hogwarts, and Bobby's mangy cat, Crookshanks, curled up to sleep in Cas' lap.  Dean felt content sipping cider and listening to the muffled voices coming from the radio in the kitchen.

Bobby was probably listening to the news, and suddenly Dean's mind went teetering off on speculations of what the Demons could be up to now.  Nothing had happened at Hogwarts all semester, and for all Dean knew, everything had been quiet ever since they killed Jim.

Dean was still angry about that.  As happy as he was now, it didn't mean things were better.  It didn't make Jim's death okay.  And what about his father?  He hadn't heard from John since July, which wasn't too unusual, but  _shouldn't_  it have been?  There was something wrong with the world.

He slept off these big thoughts and many more over the next several days, letting time float by filled with good food, Christmas tree-decorating, and Bobby's old blues records that he hadn’t gotten out for years.  He didn't have Christmas music, but Dean liked B. B. King better, anyway.

Sam sure had some stories to tell.  While Dean was dealing with his dramatic life, Sam had been making quite a name for himself in his year.  Probably the smartest one in his class (though he kept saying Jess was smarter), and apparently a prized commodity with the ladies.

"I didn't say they were fighting over me, I said they're always arguing!"

"You just don't want to admit that two pretty girls have crushes on you and you don't know which one to pick," Dean teased.

"Dean, it's not like that!  Especially not Jess, she's my best friend.  You think everything is about kissing or whatever it is you do--"

"It's a little more than kissing, kid," he grinned.

Cas made a shocked face at Dean, who shrugged back.

"What?"

"Are you saying that you've...?"

"Done it?  Pssh, of course I have... not," he finished lamely.  "Almost!  Once or twice... or not that many times, but I almost got to second base!"

Sam and Cas exchanged glances.  "Second base?" they asked in unison.

"Yeah... y'know."

Dean could tell by their faces that they didn't know.  He held up his hands and mimed squeezing motions, but Cas only tilted his head, so Dean rolled his eyes, moved forward and pretended to grab at Cas' imaginary boobs.  Cas then tried to block Dean with his arms, which naturally prompted a tickle fight that migrated to the floor due to Cas' defense mechanism of curling into a ball.  Sam looked on, utterly bewildered.

"Stop!  Dean!  Can't!  Breathe!" Cas forced through the giggles, and Dean finally relented.

"I guess breathing's important."

Cas panted, "Is that what 'second base' is?  Tickling?"

"No!"  Dean smacked his palm to his face.  "Groping!  I was talking about groping!"

"Is this what you kids talk about these days?" Bobby asked, walking in at the perfect time.

"Not most kids," Sam muttered.

Cas pulled himself up off the floor and glared at Dean.  "I find your tactics to be unfair."

"All is fair in love and tickle-wars," Dean countered.

"I was gonna ask if any o' you boys wanted some hot chocolate," Bobby cut in.  "But if you're too busy groping each other, that can wait."

"Hot chocolate would be great!" Sam exclaimed.

Bobby looked at Dean and Cas inquisitively.

"Sounds good to me," Dean agreed.

Cas nodded.  "Thanks, father."

Bobby went back to the kitchen and Dean lay back on the carpet with a sigh.  "I like it here."

Cas smiled down at him.  "I'm glad.  I hope you can stay until we graduate."

"Me too, Cas.  Me too."

~~~

Christmas day was a small affair when it came to presents, but nobody minded.  Bobby made all of them sweaters, Sam and Cas got a couple books each, and Dean got a big pile of candy.  All in all, everyone was pretty happy.

The boys hadn't been sure what to get for Bobby, what they'd even be  _able_  to get, until Sam got out a huge sheet of parchment a few days before Christmas and suggested that they all write something special, kind of as a thank you.  They folded it accordion-style so it had the general shape of a fold-open card but with several more layers, then it got more and more creative from there.  Dean didn't really know what to say, so he was the first one to start drawing stick-figures, then Cas showed him up by drawing a pretty accurate-looking Hippogriff.  Sam drew constellations and some runes that he'd read about in Bobby's books, and soon the parchment was covered in various levels of artistic endeavors in addition to long letters from Cas and Sam, plus a scribbled " ~~your~~  you're awesome" from Dean (corrected by Sam).

Bobby actually teared up a little as he opened it and thumbed through it.  It was a pathetically sappy moment, and they even had a group hug.  Dean loved every second.

Later, they ate so much that they could barely walk afterward.  The only thing that was missing was the TV playing "It's a Wonderful Life" while everyone settled into the couch, and Dean had the passing thought that Cas would probably really like Jimmy Stewart.  He also made a mental note to check Cas for wings next time he heard a bell ringing.  The mental note didn't stick too well, since he fell asleep about a minute after.

~~~

Christmas break had never flown by so fast before, and they'd just finished eating all the New Year's leftovers when it was time to leave again.  Then again, school wouldn't be so bad since there was Quidditch to look forward to, and quality time with his friends who he swore not to abandon this term.

Of course, classes kicked back into gear faster than he could say  _wingardium leviosa,_  which meant very little free time at all.  He was so piled with homework and Quidditch practice, he was lucky if he got any sleep.  He and Cas were in the same boat because there was a game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff right in the middle of February.

Henricksen approached Dean before practice a week before the game and asked, "You're friends with their seeker, right?"

The captain had that determined look on his face, and Dean's gut churned a little.  "What, Cas?  Yeah.  Why?"

"Didn't you practice together a lot before?  That's what I heard."

"Yeah, um... leading up to tryouts.  We did," Dean answered with more and more trepidation.

"So what's his playing style?  What are his weaknesses?"

God, Dean knew it would come to this.  He couldn't be loyal to his team  _and_ his best friend, no, it had to be one or the other.  He took a deep breath and started to say, "I don't really want to--"

"Look, it's not that hard.  If his team loses, you'll still be friends, right?"

"Yeah, but--"

"No 'but.'  I'm pretty sure his team is gonna ask the same about you, so own up and do your team a favor."

"Well,  _I'm_  pretty sure nothing in the world could make Cas talk, so it's pretty damn unfair if I do," he retorted.

Henricksen gave Dean the coldest expression, like he was looking at a guilty man.  "This is good, I gotta know what each of my team members would choose when it's between personal life and the team, y'know, where everyone's loyalties lie.  I can see that yours--"

"Okay, fine!" he caved.  Dean took a deep breath, knowing he'd regret this.  "So you've seen him play once, he's a pretty talented flier.  The only thing is, I guess... Cas is kinda gullible.  He'll fall for a bluff most of the time.  Not always, but a lot."

"Thanks, Dean," Henricksen grinned and patted him on the shoulder.  "See?  Wasn't so hard after all."

_Tell me that when it's your turn to choose, dick._

Dean could reason with himself that it was his job, as a member of the team, especially a new one who still had to prove his place there, but it didn't stop him from feeling guilty as hell every time he saw Cas for the rest of the week, unable to say what he'd told Henricksen.  It only made Dean more and more nervous about the game as it drew nearer, for fear that it was gonna get messy.  His nervousness rubbed off on Cas so by Saturday morning, all either of them could do was sit and stare at their breakfasts, forks shaking in their hands.

"Pull it together, Dean!" Jo elbowed him.  "I know you're worried, but it's just a game--"

"No, that's just it!" he hissed back.  "You don't even know how messy this could get.  I mean,  _violent_.  There's gonna be blood on people's hands, I just know it, and it's all my fault.  Please, if I die, tell Cas I'm sorry."

They were at separate tables today, due to the competitive atmosphere, so it was just Jo and Ron who raised their eyebrows in skepticism.

Ron set down his orange juice.  "If you  _die?"_

"What do you mean it's all your fault?" Jo added.

"God, just kill me now," Dean moaned with his voice muffled by his arms.

Jo shook her head.  "You are  _such_  a drama queen."

Dean's weak knees didn't get any better as he headed off to the pitch to change and warm up, and Henricksen's pep talk about how they'd "beat those 'Puffs to the ground" didn't help either.  The weather was both promising and threatening, since the sky was covered in dark clouds that could either serve to continue dimming the sunlight, or suddenly start pouring rain on them at any second.  Judging by the tone of everything else, Dean suspected the weather would choose the angrier option.

Eleven o'clock came and they walked out onto the pitch, Henricksen pumping his fist at the crowd and egging them on.  Dean was gonna be sick.

He didn't have much time to think about it, though, since they rose up on their brooms and started the match, and his focus returned pretty quickly when he saw the quaffle flying toward him.  He concentrated on that as hard as he could, not letting any other part of the game get in the way.  The Campbell twins were a lot more on top of it today than in their last game against Ravenclaw, so there was some pretty decent competition against the other chasers.  Dean spent all of his time head-to-head with them, leaving no room for him to keep an eye on the seekers, for better or worse.

After his team's first score, he took a second to glance up at Cas and Henricksen circling above the pitch, then paid for it when Rachel, the Hufflepuff captain, intercepted a pass that was going straight for Dean.  He got a nasty reprimand from Dixon, who'd thrown the quaffle to him in the first place, so Dean swore to himself to stay focused on his job from that point on.

Twenty minutes and a couple scores later, however, he honestly couldn't help but notice what was happening.  Henricksen just made a signal to Gordon, who nodded and got into position, lining himself up with one of the bludger's current paths.  Then Henricksen started a dive, like he was going for the snitch, which Cas immediately noticed and followed, catching up quickly.  But, when the bludger reached Gordon, the beater redirected it toward them and Henricksen flew out of the way just in time--

Dean didn't even realize he was flying over toward the scene he was watching until he was putting himself between the bludger and Cas, who turned and widened his eyes when he noticed Dean's sudden, unexpected presence.  Next thing Dean felt was a bludger to the shoulder-blade and the wind being knocked out of him, then the world tilting as he was thrown from his broom and falling the remaining twelve feet to the ground.

Had he landed already?  His head was hurting terribly, the world was fuzzy and black around the edges, and there was a ringing in his ears.  Dean felt it was about time he passed out.

~~~

He barely began to slit his eyelids open before too-bright light came through the cracks and made his head sear some more, but someone who sounded like Cas noticed the movement and cried, "Dean!"

He squinted out as best he could, trying to make his eyes adjust without splitting his head open.  It was more difficult than it should have been.  Instead of finding out for himself, he asked, "Cas?"

A hand grabbed his own - thank God he could feel his fingers - and the voice said "Dean!" again.  "You're awake!"

"Yep," he answered, then hissed impatiently, "It's too damn bright..."

"Perhaps I can reposition..." the boy muttered, then slowly Dean could see his eyelids going from bright red to dark gray as they were covered in shadow.  "There."

This time he could squint open and actually  _see_  Cas, who was sitting at his bedside, still wearing mud-caked Quidditch robes.  "How long've I been out?"

"You've been asleep just over two hours.  Madam McClellan said it was best for you to be well-rested, as you have a concussion."

"Hey Cas?"

"Yes?"

"You're holding my hand."

"Oh!"  Cas flinched then let go hurriedly.  "Sorry!  Um."

"Heh."

Dean didn't think he minded, but that could be the concussion talking.  Do concussions talk?  Maybe if his head pounded hard enough, the concussion could control his body.

No, he thought, it was definitely time to sleep some more.

~~~

He woke up the next morning feeling a little better, but soon got a wonderful dose of foul-tasting medicine from Madam McClellan.  Then again, it did make his head feel even clearer within minutes, and nearly all the pain receded from his shoulder.

She mentioned that she barely managed to kick Cas out of the hospital wing last night, that the boy apparently wanted to watch Dean sleep all night just to make sure he woke up the next morning.  Dean laughed to himself, amused by the fact that he and Cas had traded places.  Though Dean hadn't been  _quite_  that insistent when he was the one at Cas' side.  Or maybe he had, he couldn't quite remember.

Either way, after one more check-up, the nurse said he was free to go, but had to come back for one more dose of medicine before bed.  He also had to be careful not to do too much physical activity, for instance Quidditch was off the table for at least three days.  That was perfectly fine, since the game just ended, and practice wouldn't be the number one priority for a little while.

Speaking of the game, he still didn't know the final score.  It didn't take long to find out; as soon as he got into the Great Hall for brunch, Henricksen accosted him with a look in his eyes that froze Dean to the spot.

"Do you realize what you did?" he asked, keeping it cool, at least on the outside.

Dean shook his head, unable to open his mouth.

"We lost," Henricksen spat.  "Which we wouldn't have if your precious feelings hadn't gotten in the way."

"Uh... feelings?"

"Whatever kind of thing you and your little Hufflepuff friend have got goin' on, it better not get in the way next time.  One little bludger doesn't hurt that much, I mean look at you, you're barely injured."

"I have a concussion!"

Henricksen poked Dean's chest with his index finger and towered over him, making his the last word, "You traded your team's victory for the  _enemy seeker_ , Winchester.  Don't let it happen again."

With that, the captain left.  Dean swayed a little but caught himself, clutching his sore head and at last making his way to the table where all four of his friends plus Sam were sitting, looking a little pale.  It tugged Dean's heartstrings to know they worried about him that much, and Cas even stood up to help Dean sit down on the bench when he got there.

"It's alright, dude, I got it.  I'm not  _that_  helpless," he chuckled.

"Sorry," Cas apologized sheepishly.

Sam leaned in and stated obviously, "That was an intense game."

"No kiddin'," Jo concurred.  "You're okay, right Dean?"

He shrugged.  "Not too shabby.  It was worth it, though."

Cas looked down at his knees, and was he... did Cas just blush?

Dean grinned at him and nudged him with his elbow saying, "What?  I couldn't have your pretty face get hit by a bludger twice in one year.  Then you'd be hogging all the attention."

"We all know how much you like attention," Cas acknowledged.

"Heh, right.  'Like' is the word."

"I correct myself: we all know how much you  _love_  attention."

Dean elbowed him harder.

Then he noticed Jo and Ron and Tessa exchanging glances, like he couldn't see them right there.  What was this about?  Were they making some kind of secret code?

Sam rolled his eyes and got up, patting Dean on the shoulder.  "I'm glad you're okay, Dean."

"What, you're leaving?"

"I've got reading to do."

"Okay then, see you around, loser."  He reached up and ruffled Sam's hair, at which the kid grimaced and slapped Dean's arms away, escaping for now.

When Dean turned back to the group, Cas was leaning on the table with one elbow, picking at his food, and the rest of them were wearing various  expressions of suspicion.  This was just weird.

"What?" he asked.

Jo shrugged.  "What?"

"I was asking  _you_  what.  What?"

"Nothin'."

"Seriously?"

"I've got a Defense paper to write, so I'll see you all later," Tessa announced, standing up.

"We've all got the  _same_  Defense paper to write," Jo added, also standing and dragging Ron with her.

Dean scoffed, "What is this, some kinda code?"

"No, there actually is a paper.  It's due Tuesday, remember?"

"Yeah, but... I just got here, and you're all leaving!  At once!"

"Cas is staying," Tessa pointed out, "He's not done eating yet, see?"

Cas came out of his trance and jerked his head up.  "Hmm?"

"I'm gonna have to shut myself in for some prime studying, so I'll see you all tomorrow!"

"See you, Tessa," chorused Ron and Jo as Tessa left.

"See you later, Dean.  We'll help you catch up, so take as long as you like," Jo said with a wave.  Before Dean knew it, they were all gone.

"Is it just me or does something smell fishy?"

"I don't think the kitchens are serving seafood today..."

"No, I mean with them," Dean nodded toward the backs of the three mysterious ones exiting the Great Hall.  "Something about them seem suspicious?"

Cas shrugged.  "Do you think so?"

" _I'll_  say.  Something was definitely weird about what just happened."

"They appear to have left us alone," Cas stated plainly.  Belatedly, his eyes widened and darted back to his plate as he realized what he'd just said.

Dean frowned.   _What the hell?  This doesn't make any sense.  What are they up to?_

Cas ate the rest of his eggs benedict with haste and dropped his fork like a hot potato when he was done.  Getting up, he made the same excuse as the rest of them: "That paper is for all of us, and I certainly need to work on it, too.  See you later, Dean."  And then he rushed off as well.

"Well, this has been an interesting morning," Dean said to himself.

"Not incredibly so," replied Nearly-Headless Nick, floating by.

~~~

The rest of the term was much the same.  The professors started talking about next year's O.W.L.'s and how difficult they would be, using it as a reason to give them more homework than ever.  Nobody had time to think of much else, though there was a cloud hanging over some people’s minds because there had been no Demon activity for almost a year now.  It was unusual, and that made it feel pretty sinister.

But there being no news at all, there was no way for anyone to pinpoint the reason for their anxiousness.  It was just... there.  A build-up of fear that was so slow and scant that no one noticed it.

Though most of everyone's time was dedicated to homework, Dean was glad that he was at least spending that study time with his friends again.  That fall term was really wasted on Bela and whatever she had been up to.  She'd been lying low ever since their dramatic break-up, which was suspicious in and of itself, but combined with the lack of Demon activity, Dean wondered if that really was connected.  The very idea scared him more than he was willing to admit.

As for Quidditch, there were two more games remaining: Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin, and Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw.  Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin had been earlier in January, and that was actually a tie, 180 to 180 with Slytherin catching the snitch.  Thankfully, in Hufflepuff's game against Slytherin, Cas caught the snitch so fast that Hufflepuff won 150 to 20.  Ravenclaw's chasers had proven themselves to be a tough team to beat, tying or winning their previous games with goal-scoring alone, so Dean was nervous about that last game with them.  But Gryffindor had one awesome keeper, and Dean hoped this would just be Olivia's chance to shine.  In the end it was still close, but Gryffindor beat them by a hair.

Dean added up the scores and thought... there's no possible way.  He had to wait until the end-of-year feast to make sure he got everything right, but if he did, it was not what he expected.

Finals came and finals went, and Dean was pretty sure he failed History of Magic.  At least he did well in Charms and Care of Magical Creatures, and not half-bad in Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Sure, he didn't meet Professor Crowley's standards, but that didn't count except in actual grades.

He slept for about eighteen hours when all the exams were finally done and he had no more homework to do, at least until next year.  The thing that eventually got him out of bed was Ron shaking him and exclaiming that it was almost time for the feast.  That got Dean up  _real_  quick.

He gave Sam a pat on the back on his way to his seat, a silent congratulations on his first year at Hogwarts, then he sat down with the four most awesome people in the world, as they had proven themselves in this last year.  In his mind, that's what this feast was really celebrating: the friends who were still there, even after Dean fucked up everything.

Headmaster Shurley stood up, looking a little tired as usual, and announced, "Welcome to the end-of-term feast!  I guess you guys are ready for summer break, huh?"  He was met with enthusiastic cheers.  "Those O.W.L.'s are killer, I know.  Fourth years, be ready.  Jus' sayin'."

Dean and Cas exchanged worried looks.

"I guess it's time to announce the cup winners," he looked down at his notes.  "Uh... I'll start with the House Cup.  4th place is..."

Dean tuned out and willed him to get on to the Quidditch cup already.  Plus, after that there would be food which Dean was desperate to have.  The Gryffindor table suddenly cheered a little half-heartedly and he perked up in time to join the end of it.  He whispered to Cas, "Which place were we?  I missed it."

"You were third place.  Oh, it looks like Ravenclaw is second..."  Something like realization dawned on Cas' face and Dean waited to see what it was.

"And first place, with four-hundred seventy points, Hufflepuff!"

Cas' other table stood up and hollered loudly, and Dean unashamedly cheered with them as the banners hanging on the walls turned to yellow.  Dean patted Cas on the back and said, "That was all you, right?"

Cas gave Dean a derisive but amused glare, then looked back toward the front.  Chuck went on, "I know you're all _really_ excited to hear the results of the, uh... the Quidditch cup."

Whispers rustled across the tables.

"Exactly.  So... looks like Slytherin's in fourth place with two-hundred ninety."

The far right table glowered and looked more sullen than usual.

"Third place is Hufflepuff with four-hundred sixty, very close behind Gryffindor with four-seventy..."

The whispers picked back up, louder than before as Dean's suspicions were confirmed.

"Which puts Ravenclaw in first place with five-hundred and ten points!"

This time all the Ravenclaws stood up at once and sent whoops into the air.  Dean crossed his arms and argued, "It makes no sense, they only won one game!  And of the other two they tied one and lost the other, it's just freakin' unfair 'cause they scored so much!"

Cas gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.  "I think we'll all survive, Dean.  Just remind yourself that Slytherin was in fourth place for both cups."

He grinned at that.  "Revenge  _is_ sweet."

Naturally, the feast was delicious and everyone was sent off to bed feeling content (except the Slytherins), knowing that next morning they would take the train home and have not a care in the world.


End file.
